26 Bracketology

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

Those other coaches didn’t have successful seasons only to lose virtually their entire roster and then had to start over again. Who knows what that team we had a few years ago would have done had those players come back. Dude knows what he’s doing

He's good at finding quality transfers to come play here (Tate, Dodd, Beaubrun, Jennings, Tot, Banks, Moodie, Vasser) and getting a group of guys that haven't played together before to gel in half a season.

[appvette]

Those other coaches didn’t have successful seasons only to lose virtually their entire roster and then had to start over again. Who knows what that team we had a few years ago would have done had those players come back. Dude knows what he’s doing

I feel like that team could have been top 25, or at least gotten an at-large bid to the tournament. Also had a chance at getting our first tournament win.

[appvette]

With that said, you can't give Kerns much of a handicap because he's competing against other teams that deal with the same situation and he has the benefit of being able to plug in new upperclassmen every year. The other App coaches didn't have that benefit.

[Saint3333]

With that said, you can't give Kerns much of a handicap because he's competing against other teams that deal with the same situation and he has the benefit of being able to plug in new upperclassmen every year. The other App coaches didn't have that benefit.

Apke and Buzz used the Juco path pretty well.

If you gave Kerns, Apke, and Buzz all the same players at the beginning of the season, I'd take Kerns every time by tournament time. He just develops players better and gets them to play as a team.

I wasn't alive during the Cremins era, but I'd put Kerns Xs and Os against the Cremins I saw at GT as well.

[AppFan11]

Appvette, while that’s true, it can’t compare to keeping your starting five year over year which Kerns never had. Kerns would have killed it.. back in the day. Lets beat Marsha tonight!!

[appvette]

Appvette, while that’s true, it can’t compare to keeping your starting five year over year which Kerns never had. Kerns would have killed it.. back in the day. Lets beat Marsha tonight!!

That's true. I think this new structure makes it harder to have extremely great seasons, but also makes it easier to avoid those down seasons when you lose several good seniors and have to rely on a bunch of underclassmen that haven't developed much. A lower standard deviation would be expected in this era.

[Bootsy]

What DK has accomplished this year is truly impressive. Not just from a W/L perspective, but also how successful he and the staff have been at building team chemistry and individual player development in a short period of time.

Also, let’s not forget the trainers’ excellent work keeping these guys healthy throughout the season.

[hapapp]

Those other coaches didn’t have successful seasons only to lose virtually their entire roster and then had to start over again. Who knows what that team we had a few years ago would have done had those players come back. Dude knows what he’s doing

No doubt times are very different. Interestingly, basketball is the one sport that the Southern Conference is perhaps at least as strong or stronger than the Sun Belt. This year the Belt seems a bit higher but over the previous two seasons, the Southern had a higher RPI rating.

[Saint3333]

2026 - SBC 20, SoCon 23
2025 - SoCon 14, SBC 20
2024 - SoCon 13, SBC 17
2023 - SBC 14, SoCon 20
2022 - SoCon 12, SBC 17
2021 - SoCon 10, SBC 18

SoCon on average has been stronger; Furman, Samford, and UTC have had some strong years but the SoCon hasn't had a top 60 team any of those years.

Both clearly one-bid conferences, which is what matters.

[hapapp]

SoCon really down this year, SBC similar to last season. SBC has tremendous parity this year. The last week and half could produce a myriad of finishes.

[app97]

I attend some of the socon tournament almost every year. In my view the socon sometimes has teams at the top of their league that can compete with and/or are better than the best of the belt, but the sun belt always seems to have more parity from top to bottom.