SoCon Basketball: Can this be a two-bid league in 2019-20 season?

LEXINGTON, VA - JANUARY 10: The Southern Conference logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Furman Paladins and the Virginia Military Keydets at Cameron Hall on January 10, 2019 in Lexington, Virginia. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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LEXINGTON, VA – JANUARY 10: Jordan Lyons #23 of the Furman Paladins (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Furman Paladins (21-5, 11-2)

Speaking of the Furman Paladins, they are currently in the catbird seat in the conference, even though they are tied with East Tennessee State, a 65-56 win over the Buccaneers gives them the leg up with the return engagement coming on Feb. 19.

Head Coach Bob Richey has one of the better offensive teams in the country with his Paladins averaging 78 per game, 27th-best in the sport. A big reason for their offensive success is the long ball which they shoot at a 36.4% clip and make 10 per game which puts them in the top 11th. Jordan Lyons leads four Paladins in double figures with 17.4 and he has attempted 198 three-pointers on the year, making 35.4% of them. But Furman is more than just an offensive club. Their defensive numbers are strong with their points allowed (66.4), and three-point defense (70.1%) all rank in the top-98 nationally.

During the non-conference portion of the schedule, they were unable to find a signature win, taking Auburn to overtime and falling to Alabama, that combined with a current NET ranking of 74 it looks as though Furman will likely need a sweep of ETSU and a trip to the finals of the Southern Conference tournament to earn some at-large consideration.