No conference has more contrast between its fastest team and slowest team than does the SoCon. In conference play, VMI was about 16 possessions per 40 minutes faster than The Citadel. And they had to play each other twice which artificially constrains the relationship between the two. VMI gave up 6.4 more points per game in conference play than The Citadel but easily has the better defense. In fact, The Citadel rates out as the worst defense nationally. Tip to future coaches: If your defense is going to suck, play at the nation’s fifth-slowest pace. You might fly under the radar a bit.

Wofford is looking like a 12-seed if bracketmatrix.com is any indication which would be the highest seed for a conference member since Steph Curry called the SoCon home with the phenomenal Davidson team of 2008. Amazingly, one of the Terriers’ two conference defeats was to The Citadel, when Wofford lost despite scoring 1.26 points per possession. (To put that in perspective, it was only the tenth-highest figure allowed by The Citadel this season.)

So Wofford isn’t invincible. They also split a pair with conference runner-up Chattanooga, who is the team most likely to meet the Terriers in the championship game. However, the odds are actually against both teams getting there.

Congrats to Wofford’s Karl Cochran, who earns the SoCon kPOY. Cochran went from certified shot-chucker as a sophomore to efficient team-leader as a senior. However, the most impressive thing is that at 6-1, Cochran blocked 31 shots this season. His block percentage is higher than Arizona’s Kaleb Tarczewski and Iowa’s Adam Woodbury, both seven-footers.

Southern Conference

All-kenpom.com: Karl Cochran, Wofford (kPOY); Jalen Riley; Casey Jones, Chattanooga; James Sinclair, Western Carolina; Lee Skinner, Wofford.

March 6-9 at Asheville N.C.

                  Qtrs Semis Final Champ
 1 Wofford         100  84.0  65.1  45.1
 2 Chattanooga     100  86.2  55.2  26.0
 3 Mercer          100  70.5  33.1  13.0
 5 E. Tenn. St.    100  53.7  16.0   6.7
 4 W. Carolina     100  46.3  12.5   4.8
 6 VMI             100  29.5   8.4   1.9
 8 UNC Greensboro 51.8   8.5   3.5   1.1
 9 Samford        48.2   7.5   2.9   0.9
10 Furman         55.0   8.2   2.0   0.3
 7 The Citadel    45.0   5.6   1.2   0.2