SEC Bracketology. Just taking a stab at the SECT brackets using today’s standings – so much can and probably will change on Saturday that this is just an academic exercise, but here it is. The lack of separation is incredible – Alabama as #1 in the West is about the only seed not subject to change despite having played 15 of 16 games.

Thank God for Rashad.

For the second straight game, Rashad Wright hit THE shot when his team was facing a loss. He didn’t just hit the last shot, he hit the last two. Down 67-65, Wright drove into the lane and hit an off-balance shot to tie the game at 67. And then the three-pointer – it was everything you don’t want in a shot. It was a leaner, he wasn’t squared to the basket, it was in traffic – and he swished it.

Wright carried the team in the first half. The offense was very slow getting going, and it was only foul shots and a burst of points from Wright that kept the Dawgs in the game. When the Dawgs decided to become more active on the defensive end, the offense finally woke up. There were some great extra passes to find the open man, and the Dawgs had a 27-6 run to close the first half.

The offense in the second half was rough. Had Rashad’s prayer been off-center, we’d be focused squarely on a 23-point second half. Around the eight-minute timeout, the Dawgs led 62-57. Until Wright’s flurry of five points in the final minute, the Dawgs had managed only three points in the meantime.

In those points, we find the stories of this season: first, there are the problems of depth and inconsistency we knew about from the beginning. The quality of competition is excellent in the SEC this year, and teams from Auburn to LSU to Vandy have found ways to scare if not outright beat Georgia. The Dawgs are far from invincible. At the same time, we have seen the moments of individual and collective excellence that show the progression of this team from “gutsy” (used to patronizingly describe a 10-20 team in 2000 which played well but usually came up short) to “dangerous” (used last season when the Dawgs played any and all comers and won their share) to the verge of being called…..”champions”. Yes, if the Dawgs can follow through and beat Tennessee, they will at worst be co-champions of the SEC East.

Georgia basketball signee Wayne Arnold is used to winning championships. His Berkmar team has won consecutive state titles largely due to his contributions. That streak may or may not end this season, but Arnold has had to focus on mastering life off the court during his senior year. The death of his mother earlier in the season has far overshadowed basketball. School Sports has a nice look at Arnold’s frame of mind as his high school career comes to an end.

It’s hard to read the media sometimes. Harrick can get left off of a list for National Coach of the Year, but then some just and good recognition can follow right behind it. Jarvis Hayes has made Dick Vitale’s all-newcomer team. Vitale, to his credit, has been talking up Harrick and this Georgia team since early January.

ESPN.com: Finalists for Naismith coaches awards This is rich. Apparently there are 20 coaches out there who have done a better job than Jim Harrick this season. Apparently these other coaches have taken a preseason consensus last-place team and have their squads in good shape to win a division in the toughest conference in college basketball. Apparently all of those coaches also only returned four players with mostly reserve experience and turned them into the core of a Top 25 team.

For safe choices like Tubby Smith and Pete Gillen to make this list over guys who are producing better results with much less like Jim Harrick and Herb Sendek is a travesty. Gillen has only driven a top 10 team into the ground with a 6-6 ACC record.

Harrick doesn’t need other people letting him know how good of a coach he is – after all, he has already won the National Coach of the Year award in 1995. It would have been nice though to see him and the University get a little more attention for the job Harrick has done this season.

(ABH) Jacobs keeps taking strides in recovery
Loran Smith takes a walk with David Jacobs.