SportsWatcher931

I know that Levy has committed to WKU, is Haynes committed? Where?

DeKalb won't even come close to challenging for 1st place! But I'm not saying that they won't be in the mix for 2nd......IMO everyone is playing for 2nd in the regular season. I am afraid that 8-AA will be dominated by Upperman. I do think LA will be very good this season with some younger players finally showing what they can do!!

York @ LA-- I would be surprised and a bit concerned if LA doesn't beat York 20+ at home. Upp @ CC-- Appears to be the game of the night in 8-AA, hard not to go with the home team in this one but it would be surprised if it is more than 6/8 point range either way. CM @ MC-- This would be a game that would also be surprising if it is anything less than a 20+ point win for CM. SC @ DC-- Should be a comfortable win for SC in this one, SC by 15.

1. Livingston Academy – Just too much of everything…..IMO the only sure thing in 8-AA this year. Not much to add about this team. They appear to be without any glaring weakness as far as district is concerned. Would be shocked if they are not the 1st place regular season team. Really feel like this can be another dominant LA squad. 2. Central Magnet – The only minus for this team, might be depth (but that is only because this core group has played so well together a long time). But that is countered by Central having IMO the best combo of players in a very talented district (Obi/C. Smith). It seems this team has been building for a deep run and this could be their year. Smith recovering from knee injury could be the only hiccup early for this team. 3. Smith Co. – Easily could be the second best team in 8-AA. Hackett is the easy front runner to win district MVP. Very quick, tough nosed player that is almost impossible to keep from getting to the rim and has improved her 3- point shot every year. But with a new coach there’s always some uncertainty, even with his wealth of knowledge and success they could have some bumps in the road adjusting early on. Any other district this team would be a dominant 1st place team, which could be said for any of the top three. 4. Upperman – It’s a toss up IMO at the 4 spot between Upp./Macon county. Upperman’s overall depth and experience is the reason I have them 4th. A lot of versatility with the players returning, lack of a true post presence might be an issue at some point. Shooting/defense should be the strength of this team. 5. Macon Co. – With a very good core returning it would be easy to see this team surprise everyone. I very good guard returning from injury will provide a boost scoring wise. This team was playing very good at the end of last season and they should be able to carry it over to a quick start this year. Overall post play should be a deciding factor on exactly how good this team can be. 6. Cannon Co. – It feels strange to have this team this low but after losing 4 starters including the reigning 8-AA MVP/AA Miss Basketball a down year is inevitable one would think. Should be a solid defensive team (seems like they always are) but scoring could be an issue. With like many teams in 8-AA this year they could end up finishing almost anywhere. 7. DeKalb Co. – DC is placed this low merely on past history. This team has all the makings of having a breakout season….but the question is can they do it. It seems they have been lurking for a few seasons and now appears to be the time they step forward if they’re legit. Not sure how high they can finish in this loaded district but should be much better than they have been in some time and with luck who knows. 8. York Institute – With all do respect to their new coach (someone I do respect and I’m confident they will be better fundamentally) this is the only other “sure†thing as far as finishing in 8-AA, IMO. With some of the recent players that chose to play at Clarkrange, York just doesn’t have a full compliment of players to compete at a high level in this district. Things could definitely change but not this year.

?!?! York higher? How much higher?

Looks like you will get your chance! "at Least 2 wins in regions". See you in Sparta!! #HOGEYE

I'm not trying to be disrespectful here but I don't think CAK would want any part of Cannon Co. this year, with or without Hooper. If you've not seen them this year they're entirely a different beast, like someone said earlier they've made me a believer!

I will agree with you on your assessment of their schedule. Question for you Indian, where do you see SC finishing in district? I know it's early but you always have a good handle on 7-AA.

I’m intrigued by the great guards vs. great posts match-up!! I think Riverdale wins by 10-15 but honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Bradley pulls the upset.

Basketball is to be played with a certain finesse, if you want clutching/grabbing/pushing that’s called football. I hope that they continue to enforce it consistently and not “pick & choose†or stop calling during district games or in the postseason. If you don’t want the other team to shoot so many free throws then stop fouling it’s pretty simple! Guidelines to Enforce Illegal Contact - When contact occurs that affects the rhythm, speed, quickness and balance of the player, illegal contact has occurred. When illegal contact occurs, fouls must be called. Officials must not refrain from calling these type of actions that create an advantage for the opponent. Illegal contact must be called regardless of time and score. Bottom line IMO is a skilled offensive player should be allowed to play the game the way it was meant to be played!!

Without a doubt Macon has had fantastic run the last 3-4 years and I don’t think it is over, but in 8-AA this year IMO they will be on the outside looking in while their young players learn to fill those shoes they lost through graduation. This is a tough district for young guards to "cut their teeth". Talent is there but just young & untested so far. Of course, by tournament time anything would be possible. I just think that finishing 3rd or 4th this year in 8-AA is nothing to be ashamed about.

I can't wait for the season to get underway....going to be a stacked 8-AA this year IMO.

At home I think I think that it's LA game to lose. I don't know a whole lot about McMinn Central but I'd say LA by 5 IMO. I think we could be looking at a shoot-out, LA has scored 65 or more this season 20 times and MC has done it 21 times with both averaging over 70 a game in the post-season so far. That kinda of jumped out at me when looking at the records. Take the over!

Oh it's who wins summer camp, thanks for clearing that up. See I thought it was who had the "best" record or who was ranked #1 in the polls. Great thread Bob!! Bottom line to everyone.....you don't have to argue on message boards for respect!! All you have to do is be the last team standing in Murfreesboro in March!! Gold Balls aren't subjective, it's proven on the hardwood at Murphy Center! They're 16 great teams left in each classification but only can be called the best/champions!

And that's another thing......STOP bragging about summer camp wins!!! A team with "skins on the wall" or should I say Gold/Silver Balls in the T'Case don't have to thump their chests over meaningless summer camp games! Privately if you wanna build confidence within your team's ranks by using camp wins that's fine but on a public forum with knowledgeable fans you lose credibility, just saying.

I don't have a dog in this hunt but I've bitten my tougue about something Grainger fans have been talking about since playing in White Co. Let me clear something up for you guys, Grainger didn't "do anything to middle TN" by beating a 3rd place AAA team that is rebuilding with a new coach, a AAA team that isn't in middle TN and a DII that's just solid. If you wanna "do something" to middle TN come down and play Livingston, Jackson Co., Cannon Co., Smith Co., Macon Co., etc surely at least 1 of these teams or other middle Tn teams will gladly provide the measuring stick you think you received by playing the above mentioned teams in Sparta LOL!! BTW great season so far and I hope you guys beat CAK and your girls are rewarded for all their hard work I'm sure they've put in this year with a trip to Mboro.....30 wins don't happen by accident or by bad teams.

You have to go back almost 10 years before 8-AA has lost more than 1 game in the 1st round of Region play (quarter-finals). In the 4 years 8-AA has matched up with 7-AA it's not been close. 8-AA 1st round record is 14-2 with complete sweeps in 2010 and 2013 (this year). I wouldn't expect it to change much with LA, Cannon Co., Central Magnet and Smith Co. returning alot of great players. Throw in Macon Co., Upperman, DeKalb Co. and York and I'd say the chance is almost ZERO that 7-AA will win a game even next year. I guess 7-AA can cling to the hope that maybe their #1 could squeak one out against 8-AA #4 next year but look who that #4 seed might be next year!!

This the same Grainger that was so dominate last year 31-2 and couldn't get out of sub-state?!? We will see.....I'll give the props if they do. They would not be undefeated in 8-AA! I'd bet my life on that! They may win it all but they wouldn't cakewalk through 8-AA.

Hmmm......I'll say this LA will gladly win any championship they can! Will gladly play anybody that happens to be in our bracket LOL

I'm not talking about about "west" "middle" TN. I was directly comparing 2 districts, 13AA and 8AA. In the last 30 years when only counting Gold & Silver 8AA has 17 total! 9 Gold and 8 Silver!! Just one question how many does the teams that have or do comprise 13AA have?

Well in the post-season anything can happen but Grundy lost to DeKalb by 21, Upperman by 39, Cannon by 31 this year. So I think @ home LA will be just fine. On top of that Grundy beat Chatt. Christian twice during the regular season….so I’d say Cannon Co. will have a good showing in Woodbury as well. If I was a betting man I’d take the “over†in both games LOL.

Just the facts handy for the last 15 years that are on TSSAA. 8AA Teams: 5 AA State Titles, 4 AA State Runner-ups, 6 Semi-Final appearances (Final 4) separate from the Titles and Runner-ups and 12 Total State Tourney Appearances 13AA Teams: 2 AA State Titles, 2 AA Runner-ups, 3 Semi-Final appearances (Final 4) separate from the Titles and Runner-ups and 11 Total State Tourney Appearances Of course that is just the last 15 years. Facts are facts.

And to finish my thought on that....as long as Melton is at Smith Co. they WILL NOT stay at the bottom!

If I were to be honest, Upperman IMO is going to be tough next year. I do think that LA will be right there though. I think Cannon returns quite a bit. And as long as Martin is at DC I expect them to be in the mix. So I think Yok will finish 4 or 5 but definitely not higher than 3rd.