re: Now that the regular season is just about over

It was a nice turnaround after the program looked dead at the end of non-conference play. Hopefully things continue to trend up. But I’d tell anyone who thinks progress is linear in this era of college basketball to not jump the gun. The fortunes of a program can change dramatically in one year.

Vanderbilt last year was like LSU this year. They got hot at the end of SEC play and looked poised to keep it going this year with 7 of their 8 leading scorers set to return. Then 4 of those guys transferred out (one to LSU). Now they are the second worse team in the league.

Missouri unexpectedly made the NCAAT last season after a great year one turnaround with a ton of new players. They are now 0-18 in SEC play. South Carolina was bad last season. They will be in the NCAAT this year.

How many key guys McMahon can retain and who he can get in the portal will tell the tale. Until then, there is no way to accurately predict next season.