NCAA Basketball Preview 2014-15; Southern
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The Southern Conference has underwent a big shakeup from last year with conference realinment. Mercer, VMI, and East Tennessee State are coming in the conference as Davidson, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Elon leave.
Wofford went to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last five seasons. They have covered three of the four bases for mid-major auto bids earning a 13, 14, and 15-seed, all in that order. They should be the favorites to go dancing again and are highly unlikely to be a 16-seed if they do go. Wofford is losing just one senior from last year, a player who averaged 1.5 points per game last season.
Karl Cochran should be a player of the year front runner for Wofford, averaging 15.7 point and five rebound per game as a junior in 2013-14, shooting 38.2 percent from three point range in the process. Wofford is undersized with Lee Skinner being the team's main rebounder despite his 6-6 size, but shot 36 percent from the three as a team and allowed 62.2 points per game last season to make up for it.
Davidson ran the conference last season, going 15-1 in conference after an injury riddled non-conference that saw them take North Carolina to overtime in Chapel Hill. But they will no longer be a factor as Davidson will be in the Atlantic 10 next season, where they will likely be way over matched to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid.
Elon could have also been a contender had they remained in the conference. They went 18-14 overall and 11-5 in conference last year and lost just two seniors with neither of them providing major offense. They will play in the Colonial Conference this year and should be one of the top teams in a conference that has seen the departure of both VCU and George Mason after their illustrious Final Four runs.
Mercer is the only team in the conference that made the field of 68 last season and pulled a stunning upset over Duke as a 14-seed in the process. Mercer was in the Atlantic Sun last season so the competition they face will be a very slight increase, if any. Unfortunate for them, they lose seven seniors from the team that went dancing last year so Bob Hoffman will need to coach his brains out just for Mercer to break .500.
After that there are two teams that will likely break .500, but not be a factor in the conference. Chatanooga went 12-4 in conference last season despite having no seniors and only two juniors, but 2015-16 will likely be their year with how good Wofford will be this year. Samford was just 13-20 last season, but lose just two seniors who combined to average 0.7 points per game last season and should rise towards the top of the conference.
Both VMI and East Tennessee State won at least 19 games last season, but both lost a good amount of seniors and in VMI's case, competed against a lower level of competition.
The Southern Conference will be much improved, especially with the three incoming schools being better collectively than the four outgoing schools. Wofford should win the conference in be in the 12 to 13-seed tweener range. If the conference can continue to improve, the Southern Conference could put two teams into the field of 68 in a few years if everything breaks right.
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