Randy Smith
As we are just a few days away from the NCAA Tournament announcements, I have decided to give my attention to college basketball today. I have probably had less interest in this year's college basketball season than any season in a long time. First of all, I didn't work any games this year due to my retirement, and secondly it appears the Kentucky Wildcats have already won the NCAA Title, by going 30-0 and staying entrenched in the number one position in the polls. In addition, the Tennessee Volunteers are not a very good basketball team, and unless they win the SEC Tournament, they will miss the "Big Dance." The Chattanooga Mocs are also on the outside looking in with a 22-10 record and a first round loss to Furman in the SoCon Tournament.
On the women's side, the Lady Mocs have one of their best teams ever, as Coach Jim Foster has coasted through the SoCon season and Tournament unscathed for the second year in a row.
This time the Lady Mocs have taken a position in the women's poll and have climbed to the number 17 spot in the country. While it's unlikely, the Mocs will even see the post-season, UTC fans are excited beyond belief about the potential seedings for the Lady Mocs in this year's NCAA Tournament. As far as the Tennessee Lady Vols are concerned, they will be a number two or three seed in the women's field.
Since I have never fared well in making college basketball predictions, I plan to stay away from most prognostications regarding the post-season. It's really hard to pick a successful bracket with the tremendous parity we have today in college hoops. I will step out on a limb in the case of the Lady Mocs however. As far as what I'm seeing other places in terms of bracket positioning, the best I have seen is the ESPN Bracketology, where the Lady Mocs are seeded seventh in the Albany Regional facing Oklahoma State in Tallahassee, Florida. If that's true, a win over OSU, would put them up against second seed Florida State in the round of 32. Of course this is all still very speculative.
According to collegesportsmadness.com the Lady Mocs, are seeded ninth facing 8th seeded Minnesota from the Big Ten. They're still in the Albany Regional, but if they manage to escape the Lady Gophers they would then face number one overall seed UConn in round two. I prefer the ESPN prediction. Regardless of where the Lady Mocs are seeded, Coach Foster has his team clicking on all cylinders entering the NCAA Tournament and they should be poised for a good run.
The two top seeds in 2015, UConn and Kentucky are a combined 62-1. The Lady Huskies are 72-1 over the last two seasons and are a good bet to snare Coach Geno Auriemma's tenth NCAA Title. UConn'a smallest margin of victory this year was a 14 point win over South Florida in the AAC Tournament finals. As dominant as the Lady Huskies have been, Kentucky has been just as dominate on the men's side.
The 'Cats have gone through an unbeaten regular season, but unlike UConn, some of their victory margins have been much smaller. Still, Kentucky is unbeaten, while the Lady Huskies have one loss. In the end, both teams should win another NCAA Championship; unless true madness breaks out this March.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.