Anchor Drop, February 18, 2023: Auburn Tonight

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Well, who would have thought a month or so ago that on February 18, I’d be leading with basketball? It’s true, though: Vanderbilt enters tonight’s matchup with Auburn (7:30 PM CT, SEC Network) on a four-game winning streak, and returning home after consecutive road wins at Florida and South Carolina. Auburn, meanwhile, had actually lost five of six before drilling Missouri on Tuesday night, but this is absolutely a game that Vanderbilt can win. Win tonight, and Vanderbilt (a) has its first five-game SEC winning streak since 2015 and (b) would clinch a better SEC record than last year’s team, which had Scotty Pippen Jr. on it. Game thread will be live at 7; there’s a decent chance I won’t be around, what with my in-laws being in town and bedtime for the two-year-olds being very hit or miss right now. But this should be fun. Also, Bryce Smith wrote north of 1200 words about tonight’s matchup.

Of course, part of the reason why we’d rather talk about basketball today is that baseball opened its season losing 11-4 to TCU yesterday. It’s a good thing nobody can watch these games! The second game is today at 11 AM CT against Oklahoma State, again on FloSports because... well, somebody doesn’t want us to see this, I guess.

But at least the women’s tennis team won yesterday, 4-1 over UCF. If the basketball and baseball aren’t enough for you, men’s tennis hosts Florida Atlantic and lacrosse hosts Hofstra, both at noon, the latter on ESPN+.

Jonah Barbin’s Memorial Minutes column discussed the future under Shea Ralph. And finally, there are unforced errors and then there was whatever some Peabody administrator was thinking here:

A note at the bottom of a Feb. 16 email from the Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion regarding the recent shooting at Michigan State University stated that the message had been written using ChatGPT, an AI text generator.

Yeah, that was a poor decision. Anyway, I’m still not sure what the hell ChatGPT was supposed to solve, unless you think an AI text generator would do a better job writing about Vanderbilt sports than some weirdo prosecutor in West Texas who happens to have a Vanderbilt law degree and watches all the football and basketball games.

(Sadly, though, the goofy old logos still cannot return in tonight’s game thread. Superstitions, and all of that.)

Bad Gambling Advice

Season to date: 119-122-5 ATS, 114-130-1 totals

• South Carolina at LSU (12:00 PM CT, SEC Network): South Carolina +7.5, Over 132.5
• Tennessee at Kentucky (12:00 PM CT, CBS): Kentucky +2, Under 135.5
• Florida at Arkansas (1:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Florida +9, Under 139
• Mississippi State at Ole Miss (2:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Mississippi State -3.5, Under 126.5
• Texas A&M at Missouri (5:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Missouri -2, Over 152.5
• Georgia at Alabama (5:00 PM CT, SEC Network): Alabama -18.5, Under 152
• Auburn at Vanderbilt (7:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Vanderbilt +3, Over 144.5

Sports on TV

All times Central. College basketball schedule here. SEC baseball schedule here.

• 12:00 PM: PGA Tour: The Genesis Invitational, Third Round (Golf Channel)
• 1:00 PM: NHL: Avalanche at Blues (NHL Network)
• 2:00 PM: PGA Tour: The Genesis Invitational, Third Round (CBS)
• 6:00 PM: NHL: Capitals at Hurricanes (ABC)

Scoreboard

SEC Baseball: Oklahoma State 5, Missouri 3 ... Jacksonville State 8, Georgia 5 ... Alabama 12, Richmond 3 ... Mississippi State 11, VMI 2 ... LSU 10, Western Michigan 0 ... Elon 2, Kentucky 0 ... South Carolina 20, UMass-Lowell 3 ... Ole Miss 11, Delaware 2 ... Auburn 8, Indiana 4 ... Florida 13, Charleston Southern 3 ... Texas A&M 8, Seattle 2 ... Arizona 3, Tennessee 1 ... Arkansas 3, Texas 2.

NHL: Islanders 5, Penguins 4 ... Blackhawks 4, Senators 3 ... Wild 2, Stars 1 ... Kings 6, Ducks 3 ... Rangers 5, Oilers 4.