I hope you didn't think I'd pull a 180!

Let me start off this by giving Dennis Felton his props. I didn't think he could win four games in 4 days, seeing as how it took him two+ months to win 4 in conference play. He had lost 10 of 12 entering the SEC tourney and no team had EVER gone from a #6 seed to even reach the finals. The guy was playing with 8 scholarship players with a 9th playing 1 minute per game and a walk-on being the team's best defender. Nope I never thought they could win an SEC championship.
But they did. (and let's play disabuse ourselves of the notion that they won 4 in three days. Technically that is true, but they had an off day in there. 4 in 4 days, including 3 in two days. I will allow that)

I said that I would let Felton off the hook if he somehow won the SEC, but now that that has happened, I am not sure I AM able to do that.

I was going to, but the more I kept thinking about it, I just can't. He made the NCAA tourney. Congrats. Before the season he said he was going to. He kept his word. That's what he did. He got himself off the hot seat, ala Tommy Bowden. I just hope UGA doesn't reward him like Clemson does with TB with a 6 year extension that he probably doesn't deserve. Listen, before you go off, I admit, he did something that even Jim Harrick never did: win an SEC Championship.

But here is the problem I have with this (as strange as that sounds)...Are we REALLY the champs? I know we are the tournament champions, but it seems kind of hollow. We won 4 games all year, but got hot/lucky/caught lightning in a bottle at the right time. Now, we are the biggest joke in the NCAA tourney (it does feel good to be back in it though.) We are the lowest Automatic entrant from a Major conference EVER! A 14 seed? Kuntucky was a 12 back in 1985. We are a 14 seed. We are playing 3-seed Xavier, the Atlantic 10 champs. If we win, we'd get the winner of Baylor/Purdue. Is a sweet16 trip out of possibility? After this week I say NOTHING is impossible. Especially the way Felton has them believing.

Another question I would like answered is...WHAT TOOK SO LONG? The team looks like a switch has been flipped. And Felton actually LOOKED like he was coaching this past weekend. He was calling out plays, calling timeouts (I guess he caught some heat from the "I just feel it" comments maybe?), stomping up and down. He LOOKS like a coach now. A switch has flipped and I ask, why now? (I am happy it flipped, but couldn't it have flipped back in January?) Could he not find it back then? That's a problem if not. And please don't tell me you were waiting in the weeds for this weekend. That's a joke. A team would LOVE to have a bid locked up ENTERING the conference tourney, not needing to win the tourney to get in. If you ask Felton and he answered honestly, he would say he'd rather have gone 20-7 and been locked into the tourney pre-SEC.

Another thing....I read where he said that this rebuilding project has been worth it. Really? So this SEC Championship where we went 4-12 good enough for WORST Regular SEC season to tournament champs was WORTH going 8-20 a few years back? I say NO! I would have rather gone 16-14 that year then 18-12 the next then 20-10 then 22-8 this season with a bid locked up and no SEC tourney championship. THAT would be the way I would have chosen to go. Because even with our SEC Tournament championship, that just means, "Congrats you got lucky over one weekend."

Give me a regular season championship ANY day of the week because that means you were the best over the course of the season, not just one weekend. (I would go into an argument about how the BCS would work here, but this isn't the place for that)

Am I happy that the Dawgs are the SEC Tourney Champs? Heck yes! Am I happy we are in the tourney? HECK YES! But do I think Felton is a great coach now?

No, I will not say that. He coached one heck of a tourney, but that doesn't forgive him for the previous 4 years. And the question I have is, is the the new rule or the old exception? Are we going back to the NCAA Big Dance next season or the year after, or will it be year another 5 years before we go back because it took 5 years the first time?
I hope UGA doesn't fall victim to the pressure to give Felton a huge extension then watch him because Old Felton before next season. I don't want Felton to land the huge contract only to come back and kick TWood, AJAX and Dolla Bill off the team before the season starts. Just not certain we want that to happen.

I hear that Felton's people are putting his name out there, and getting feelers for other potential jobs. And to be honest, I would say to Dennis, strike while the iron is hot. Use this championship as a springboard to jump to a "better job" because I don't think you liked how you were treated. Maybe this SEC Championship was an F-U to people like me and other folks looking for your head. Maybe so. And then you are taking off. I will say thanks, and good luck, if you choose to do that. If I KNOW that UGA is going to get the tournament-Felton for the next 6-10 years at UGA, then I will push hard to keep him. But I am looking at 4+seasons vs. 4 days. I am trying to figure out which is going to show up each day.

Bottom line...if the SEC tourney Felton is the new Felton, then let's keep him. But if he just caught lightning in a bottle (which I think he did), I am a little weary of giving him the big contract. I say offer a modest extension and if he bolts, say SO LONG...and go get Anthony Grant from VCU or Chris Collins from Duke or Gregg Marshall from Wichita State. I am sure they would LOVE to come coach for the defending SEC Tournament champs.
Go Dawgs. I hope the future is bright for the hoops Dawgs.