Southern Comfort

Another day, and yet another media event brought to you by The Field of 68. Today it’s the CAA from 10 am - 4 pm ET. Watch it on X.com/Twitter or on YouTube.

Now, let’s get to Wednesday’s news. We had a LOT of it.

1. Mocs picked to win SoCon; VMI working on history

Offense rules in the Southern Conference. Three of its 10 teams — Chattanooga, Wofford and Samford — ranked in the Top 100 of KenPom’s efficiency rankings last season. Furman was close (107th) and two more were top 180.

The downside? That usually means the best players transfer up to power conference teams. Like with regular-season champ Chattanooga, which won 29 games and the postseason NIT crown.

Coach Dan Earl has to replace all five starters, but the Mocs were still the pick to win the league as announced at SoCon media day.

“Preseason No. 1 and five dollars gets you a cup of coffee. I guess it’s a good thing,” he joked. “In this day and age, it’s the challenge of getting everybody on the same page as quickly as possible.”

He’s not alone. VMI and Furman were the league exceptions as most programs worked to replenish rosters.

Didn’t watch all the interviews? Here are the notable parts:

• Furman got votes to win the league, which isn’t an accident given it returns two starters and only lost two players to the portal. "The reason they chose us is also the reason they stay,” coach Bob Richey said. “Over the course of time, we’ve been able to stay true to that. The world’s changing, but we have to find guys to fit our identity.” A spiffy new arena also helps.

• VMI has the league POY in Rickey Bradley, four returning starters and could win 15 games in consecutive seasons for just the third time in program history. They have more returning minutes than any other program. That’s not lost on coach Andrew Wilson. “We’re in a different place right now than we were in my first three years as coach. Going into this season, we have a certain level of confidence.”

• Mercer has an ideal player in Wagner transfer Zaire Williams. “Pound for pound, physically and mentally, he’s the same dude every day,” coach Ryan Ridder said. “He fits what we want to build toward.”

• New Wofford coach Kevin Giltner played at Wofford and was an assistant for six seasons. So it’s no surprise that he was “All in!” when the school asked him to be the new coach. His players feel the same way. None of them will transfer. “They have welcomed me with open arms,” he said of the players. “We’re starting to push them this week … and we’re retaining a lot of the stuff they know.”

• East Tennessee State was perhaps the league’s top defense last season, which makes them an anomaly in the SoCon. Coach Brooks Savage says he’s trying to adjust that this season. “This is an incredible offensive league,” he said. “We tried to get guys who can make shots, and score. Especially in the frontcourt.”

• Samford was an up-tempo, exciting team under Bucky McMillan. The offense may be just as entertaining under new coach Lenny Acuff, who’s last two seasons at Lipscomb featured a top 100 KenPom offense. “A lot of stuff we do, a lot of [other SoCon teams] do the same stuff. So some of it is trying to stay ahead of the posse,” Acuff said. “But a lot of it is the belief and conviction in what we do.”

Preseason SoCon Player of the Year

Rickey Bradley Jr, Sr., G, VMI

Preseason All-SoCon team

• Jaylen Smith, Jr., G, ETSU

• Cooper Bowser, Jr., F, Furman

• Tom House, Sr., G, Furman

• Jadin Booth, Gr., G, Samford

• Dylan Faulkner, Jr., C, Samford

• Jikari Johnson, Gr., G, Chattanooga

• Collin Mulholland, R-So., F, Chattanooga

• Teddy Washington Jr., Gr., G, Chattanooga

• Rickey Bradley Jr, Sr., G, VMI

• Marcus Kell, R-Jr., F, Western Carolina

2. Steven Pearl’s first season just got a bit easier

There won’t be a mass exodus at Auburn.

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