How The West Was Won...Part One

I feel like the upcoming weekend in SEC basketball will probably give us a good indication of how the SEC Western Division will be won. It is a weekend where Ole Miss could separate themselves, or the race could go back to a big cluster. With the final few weeks ahead of us, it is just about anybody's race to win.

Ole Miss goes on the road to Arkansas to play at Bud Walton. It was just about a decade ago when people referred to Bud Walton as Tad Pad West. It seemed like for several years straight Ole Miss ruled Arkansas on the road. However recent times have changed that trend. The Rebels have not been so lucky on the road at Arkansas. As a matter of fact the Rebels have not been so lucky anywhere on the road, until their last outing a couple of weeks ago at Auburn. If the Rebels can play like they did at Beard-Eves, I have no doubt they can beat Arkansas.

Ole Miss is on a four game winning streak. The Rebels as a team played much better against wins over MSU and Auburn than the recent wins against Alabama and LSU. While the team as a whole has not performed well, certain plays have played exceptionally well, i.e. Clarence Sanders who threw up 29 against LSU.

If Kennedy is going to be successful on the road, he knows his team has to get back to player better as a whole. While the team performance has not been outstanding, the one thing this team has shown, is a refusal to lose. I am confident that Kennedy knows his team has got to play better to beat Arkansas on the road. Tip-off is 4:00 and can be seen on Fox Sports South.

Elsewhere around the West. Tied for second, both one game back are MSU and Alabama. MSU has turned it on lately and is playing very well. I feel they should be feared more than Bama. The Dogs travel to LSU, who could either pack it up for the season, or take it out on the other Mississippi school for a heart breaking loss last night. On the other hand, Alabama plays host to an always good Kentucky team. The Tide has lost 2 straight including two games where they held leads before losing in the second half.

All in all, this weekend is a huge weekend for the battle in the West, and to top it off, all of the important games are on TV.