The SoCon Lowdown: Wofford had fun, and nobody else did
Plus: Chattanooga's rollercoaster ride, Mercer's emergence, and Samford's catastrophe
It was, to put it lightly, not a pretty week in the SoCon. A few teams did well for themselves—Wofford took LSU down to the wire, while Mercer surprised with an all-around solid performance—but there was far more bad than good. The most prominent lowlight came as the conference went 0-5 on Sunday, dropping several winnable games. The rankings are a bit of a mess, as one might expect, but at least there’s consistency at the top, right?
…ah, well, this is awkward. Torvik (which is how these teams are ordered) doesn’t measure the strength of non-D1 teams, so Samford’s loss to NAIA UT-Southern isn’t factored into their rating. The Bulldogs also fell at home to Louisiana Tech this week, but the 84-82 defeat at the hands of the Firehawks raised far more questions. In Samford’s defense, UT-Southern is a strong team in perhaps the best non-D1 division, and Ques Glover didn’t play (though it’s unknown whether that was simply for rest). The Bulldogs are now staring down three straight road games against tough competition: they’ll travel to DePaul on Wednesday, to UCF next Sunday, and to ULL the following Saturday. At least one win in that stretch is a must-have to recapture some confidence.
Furman had a light week, only facing D2 Tusculum and taking care of business with a 102-74 win. For a team that was expected to be fairly balanced, if not defense-first, the Paladins have leaned heavily on their offense this season—Torvik has them 39th in adjusted efficiency on that side of the ball, compared to 169th on defense. They have plenty of time to work out the kinks, though: their next four games are all against teams ranked outside the top 200 in Torvik, and only a road matchup with App State tomorrow should prove a real threat.
Chattanooga’s week was a microcosm of their season so far. The Mocs really should’ve beaten Lipscomb, especially with a great performance from Jake Stephens (18 points, 10 rebounds) to lead the way, but the Bisons simply hit more shots down the stretch and pulled a 72-66 road upset. Chattanooga could’ve come out demoralized against Murray State, but they somehow pulled together their best game of the year and shocked the Racers, 69-66, behind Stephens’ 27 points and 11 rebounds. At least the next few games—against Tennessee Tech, Gardner-Webb, Milwaukee, and Johnson—should range from fairly to laughably easy, though the Mocs are fully capable of finding a way to lose in that stretch.
UNCG headed up to Laval, Québec for an MTE this week, and they didn’t exactly impress there. The Spartans entered looking like a fringe top-100 team, reinforced by competitive losses to Miami and Towson, but they went 1-2 in the Northern Classic. Both Hofstra and Stephen F. Austin, teams UNCG should probably beat, completely shut them down on offense in 65-53 and 75-58 wins. On the upside, at least Keondre Kennedy looked good (especially from the free-throw line, where he’s 29-for-33 on the year). Regardless of how rocky their trip up north was, the Spartans should pick up wins over North Carolina A&T and Elon without too much difficulty this week.
Mercer’s week went about as one would expect, though a third win could’ve been in the cards against Florida State. The Bears battled most of the way, but eventually ended up as the Seminoles’ only win of the season so far. Their recovery in the Hostilo Hoops Community Classic was less than spectacular—they beat Robert Morris by just 6 and Fairfield by just 2 in Savannah—but they capped the week by putting up a great fight against a strong Towson team, leading as late as 9:37 in the second half before losing 70-60. One would expect a home win over Kennesaw State this week, but hopefully it isn’t as close as their last two wins against underwhelming opponents.
Wofford played with their food against North Greenville in a 70-59 win, but the highlight of the week was a down-to-the-wire loss at 6-1 LSU. Jackson Paveletzke, who continues to impress, and BJ Mack scored 19 and 18 points on the Tigers, respectively—the Terriers’ first game against a P6 opponent with multiple players scoring that high since December 2017. A spirited effort from LSU’s Adam Miller and a late 9-0 run were just enough for the Tigers to survive, as Wofford got three chances at a game-tying three on the final possession but missed each one. Still, it was a laudable performance, and a consolation prize of a win at Vanderbilt this week is a distinct possibility.
It was a week of wasted performances by Jalen Haynes. First, he scored 16 points and hauled in 12 rebounds against App State—in ETSU’s first loss with such a performance since February 2019. Then, he racked up 21 points against Georgia—the most for an ETSU player in a 15-point loss since December 2021. The Buccaneers’ struggles this week cast a pall over their early-season improvement, and they’ve largely regressed to expectation. Their next four opponents all rank 189th or lower in Torvik, and three of those games are at home; a 3-1 run in this stretch would restore some much-needed confidence in the program.
There’s not much to comment on for the Catamounts this week: they fell to low-top-200 UNC-Asheville on the road, a 73-61 loss that helped establish more firmly where WCU sits in the back end of the D1 top 300. They did show some upside in that defeat, though—it was a one-point game with under seven minutes to go—and knocking off a punchy Gardner-Webb team at home on Wednesday would add to the intrigue of a team whose only other losses are to P6 foes.
Before you get too excited over The Citadel’s winning week, note that the wins were over New Orleans (#340 in Torvik) and IUPUI (#361) and the loss was to Denver (#262). Nevertheless, the Bulldogs put up a solid showing in the Big Easy Classic and continued to handle big moments well, as expected from a senior-heavy lineup. Ed Conroy’s first team in his second stint here has been quite capable, considering the situation in place when he arrived. Pulling an upset at Charleston Southern or against Charleston at home is unlikely, but it’s another opportunity for The Citadel to punch above their weight class.
VMI still doesn’t have a D1 win, but they dominated their second non-D1 opponent this week, blowing out Regent by 50 at home. The main story of a largely disappointing season for the Keydets has been Asher Woods, a true freshman out of Atlanta who has 59 points in his last three games, including 21 in that win over Regent. Woods has been a solid mid-range shooter and draws fouls well, but his profile has really started to round out with his improving three-point form—he’s 4-for-7 from beyond the arc in the last two games after a 4-for-23 start to his career. Expect him to continue to feature as VMI takes on Presbyterian and Navy, both long-shot chances to snap their losing streak against D1 foes.
In the realm of the SoCon’s many former teams…
Alabama had a dazzlingly dramatic week, knocking off Michigan State and falling to UConn before outdueling North Carolina in quadruple (!) overtime.
Auburn delivered one of the ugliest wins of the year in a 43-42 escape from Northwestern, but they looked more complete in a 65-60 home win against Saint Louis.
Charleston can’t be stopped, with another Torvik top-150 win over Kent State to make six on the season and five in a row.
In a game Iowa was expected to win comfortably, Clemson raised some eyebrows by orchestrating a late comeback bid in an eventual 74-71 loss.
Davidson is undefeated outside a decisive loss to Charleston, and they looked quite good in an 89-80 win over San Francisco led by Foster Loyer’s 30-point day.
East Carolina had a rocky week, but their offense hit an unbeatable hot streak as they pulled away from a very good Toledo team in an 86-75 win.
Mississippi State won the Fort Myers Tip-Off by dispatching Marquette and Utah, and all of a sudden they’re 6-0 and have a pair of solid wins to hang their hat on.
While NC State couldn’t pull out a win against Kansas, they looked great in the Battle 4 Atlantis consolation bracket, knocking off Dayton and Butler with ease.
Tennessee is doing their best to put a crushing loss to Colorado in the past: they won Atlantis in dominant fashion, rolling past Butler and Kansas and surviving an overtime battle with USC.
West Virginia put together an untouchable performance against Florida, completely shutting down the Gators’ offense and cruising to an 84-55 win.
The FCS playoffs kicked off over in football this week, and Furman was a standout in the play-in round, stifling Elon’s offense in a 31-6 victory. The Paladins have won seven straight since falling to Samford by a touchdown, and both are now in the second round, with Furman facing Incarnate Word while the Bulldogs defend their nine-game winning streak against Southeastern Louisiana.