Could The SEC Be The Best Basketball Conference?
With the transfer portal and NIL starting what most people would consider a new era of college athletics, there are only two options for schools and programs: Adjust or get left behind. In basketball, we might not have seen consistent results yet, but the process many SEC schools have gone through is a sign of things to come.
The SEC has always been a football conference. When you think SEC, you think of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, and many other magical moments from the conference where the slogan is "It Just Means More." You think of the CBS Sports theme song playing on a fall afternoon while you're on your couch getting ready for a rivalry game. With college sports always evolving, this time around, the SEC did something smart: They got ahead. I don't mean that SEC schools just got their NIL collectives together. Nor do I mean they were early attacking the portal. They were excellent at both, which certainly is a part of it, but specifically in basketball, many SEC schools did something that changed the course and perception of the conference. That is the fact that a lot of schools invested in coaches.
Look up and down the conference. Rick Barnes, Eric Musselman, and Nate Oats have all built winning programs. Bruce Pearl was in a Final Four not even five years ago, while Dennis Gates appears to have Mizzou headed in the right direction. This isn't just John Calipari's conference anymore. As a result of smart decisions, we will eventually see success, which could come this season. Let's face the facts. The more teams you have, the harder it is to be looked at favorably as a conference because the bottom teams can weigh you down. The Big 12 didn't have this problem in basketball, as all ten teams were formidable programs. With recent additions, the Big 12 has this problem that the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten all have to deal with.
It's not just the size, either. Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn, and Kentucky could all be top-ten teams next year, while Mizzou, Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss could be tournament teams. The conference is recruiting freshmen at a high level, recruiting transfers at a high level, and hiring coaches at a high level. It is only a matter of time until the conference wins at an elite level.
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