The SoCon Lowdown: A showdown in Cullowhee
Plus: Some muddled conference standings and optimism for VMI
Early in the season, it looked like the SoCon would come down to five teams. UNC Greensboro, Samford, Furman, WCU, and Chattanooga all had decent shots at first place early in non-conference play—but over time, that list gradually dwindled. The Mocs faded quickly following a landmark win over Louisville in their first D1 action, and while Trey Bonham’s arrival gave them a brief jolt, they weren’t anybody’s idea of a contender by January. Furman took plenty of early losses, but they didn’t fully pass the torch to the 2023-24 field until a stunning loss to non-D1 Anderson at the end of December. UNC Greensboro certainly still has the capability to battle for the conference title, but an early seven-game winning streak has given way to a 4-4 record since, and they got handled in their chance to jump back into the top group this week.
Two teams haven’t faltered. Following a brief two-game skid to start the season, Samford has rattled off the longest winning streak in program history, putting the finishing touches on it Saturday and setting a few single-game records in the process (more on that below). The 15-2 Bulldogs have company, though: Western Carolina has likewise gone untouched outside of a single two-game losing streak, starting 6-0 and winning their last nine games dating to early December. Both teams are naturally undefeated in conference play, have recently surged into the top 100 of Torvik’s rankings, and look like the clear-cut top two in pursuit of the conference title.
They face off tonight.
The sticking point with Samford is that, well…they really haven’t played anybody. A home win over UNC Greensboro this week is a good start on dragging their SOS up from its currently-dismal status, but WCU is the first full-fledged threat they’ve taken on since losing to VCU in the first week of the season. It’s hard to say they haven’t impressed, though, with games like the one they just had against nightmarishly-bad VMI: a program-record 134 points, a program-record-tying 52 made shots, and a 38-point victory in a game where they gave up 96. It’s hard to bet against them tonight, simply because it’s so hard for anybody to keep up with this offense when it’s rolling—they head to Cullowhee leading all of Division I in points per game.
Western Carolina has a stellar rotation; Russell Jones Jr., Tre Jackson, DJ Campbell, Bernard Pelote, and Corneilous Williams probably ranks as one of the best starting fives in the conference, if not the best outright. And then there’s Vonterius Woolbright, a transcendent star the likes of which the SoCon hasn’t seen since…Fletcher Magee? Maybe even Steph Curry? Last Wednesday, he put in 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists against ETSU for the fifth triple-double in WCU history and the second of his career; he followed that up with a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double against Mercer, his fourteenth this season, to remain tied for the D1 lead. His presence, combined with that spectacular supporting cast, makes it just as hard to bet against the Catamounts in this massive matchup.
UNCG remains a massive wild-card, both in the hunt for the regular-season title and in the conference tournament lurking in March. The Spartans’ best run of form is months ago now, but they’ve recovered from a miserable 72-37 loss to Texas well, winning three of their first four SoCon games without too much difficulty. They were simply outclassed at Samford, but they’ll have three more chances against the top two if they want to make a run at the conference championship. Ultimately, though, they’re facing the same question they did last year: after putting themselves in position to battle the best teams in the league, can they break through and win enough of these marquee games for the rest of their success to matter in the final standings?
They can’t keep getting away with this, right? Four games into conference play, Wofford is tied for third, having won three games by a combined four points. They’ve scuffled with the conference’s worst, nearly dropping a home game to VMI before escaping in overtime, and pulled out hair-raising one-point wins over both Mercer and The Citadel this week. All evidence suggests they’re not going to finish this high in the conference standings, but it’s been a fun ride so far, and just starting 3-1 in SoCon play is a fantastic foundation to build from. The pieces of a future conference contender are falling into place—now if they could only find a single player capable of forcing a turnover…
After four straight games shooting under .250 from three, Furman finally rediscovered that part of their game this week. They hit 13 of 31 shots from beyond the arc in a dominant win over The Citadel, then 7 of 20 in another over ETSU, and now seem to be more or less back in business as a second-tier SoCon team. Still, that dismal run makes it painfully obvious just how incomplete they are compared to last season’s all-cylinders-firing NCAA tournament run, and it does feel like we need to see them beat somebody better to be taken seriously. Coming up on the schedule this Saturday and next Wednesday, both in Greenville: Western Carolina and Samford. No pressure.
I’d like to announce that I’m done trying to understand Chattanooga. In their first game this week, the Mocs shot the lights out against VMI, scoring 109 points—their most against a D1 foe since 2016—and finished with their second-best game score of the season, directly following their best against Furman the previous Saturday. Two days after that, they welcomed UNC Greensboro to McKenzie Arena…and scored just 54 points, their fewest since the 2022 tournament loss to Illinois, en route to their worst game score of the season. At least Trey Bonham is playing as well as advertised; he scored 25 points in the loss against the Spartans, one of only two Chatanooga players with more than 6.
What’s happened to ETSU is a bit more explicable, though no less disappointing. The Buccaneers entered SoCon play on a bit of a heater, having won six of seven and kept it close with an excellent Utah State in the lone loss, but they’ve since served as a punching bag for UNCG, WCU, and Furman in turn. Those are probably three of the conference’s four best teams, sure, but it’s hard to keep up much momentum after a losing streak like that. The Buccaneers are rapidly approaching the easiest few weeks of their schedule: between January 20 and February 10, they play five of seven games at home and only face one of the aforementioned four best teams. Taking full advantage of those games is vital to avoiding the play-in, with few winning opportunities available in the final stretch of the season.
Well, at least Jalyn McCreary is back, though he looks much diminished after missing time with an undisclosed illness. The Bears’ best player put in just 25 minutes across two games this week, and his frequent absence was keenly felt in losses to Wofford and WCU. Staggeringly, this team is still favored in six more games and has a realistic chance to steal a first-round bye in Asheville, but they desperately need McCreary back at full strength soon. Those odds of a top-six finish would diminish quite a bit if Mercer can’t defend home court against Chattanooga later this week.
Okay, yes, The Citadel is 0-4, but they really aren’t that bad…I think. The schedule has been simply brutal so far; they’ve faced Western Carolina, Samford, Furman, and Wofford, and it’s honestly not much of a surprise that they don’t have a conference win just yet. They’ve got another likely loss coming in a visit to Greensboro tomorrow, but the slate finally opens up after that, with games to look forward to against VMI, Mercer, and Chattanooga in the near future. Despite the Bulldogs’ current standing, I’m still bullish on their chances of securing a first-round bye for the first time since 2009.
Psst, wanna hear a secret? Samford’s preposterous 134-96 win over VMI was actually…not too bad for the Keydets, at least according to Torvik! Sure, giving up that many points is pretty awful, but between the Bulldogs’ general offensive excellence and their extreme tempo, it was statistically an improvement on the 109 VMI surrendered to Chattanooga earlier in the week. And scoring 96, even against Samford’s defense, is genuinely pretty impressive—enough that the Keydets came away with a (relatively) respectable game score of 13, leaps and bounds better than the ghastly 0 they posted in their loss to the Mocs. Look, when you’re 3-14 and staring down the barrel of a winless season in D1 play, it’s all about perspective, right?
The Southern Conference named its all-conference Faculty and Staff Team, with each university selecting two representatives and setting a game date to honor their chosen recipients; this week, Mercer will be recognizing their representatives on Wednesday, VMI on Saturday, and East Tennessee State on Sunday. The full list can be found here. Campbell’s Anthony Molten was named SoCon Wrestler of the Week following a perfect 5-0 performance at the Franklin & Marshall Open, capped by semifinal and final victories over NC State’s Vince Robinson and Troy Hohman.