By: Nathan Giese
Every college basketball season brings about the same arguments. One of the most highly debated amongst fans and scribes is which conference is the best. This season, most will see either the ACC or the Big Ten as the best conference, and rightfully so. At the top of the ACC sits four legitimate national title contenders while the Big Ten always has depth throughout the conference.
However, one conference usually gets left out of the debate because, well, they don’t deserve to be in the discussion. One conference amongst the major conferences, the SEC, is the weakest major conference in college basketball
Why is this? What has made the SEC, a conference that’s so dominant in college football, fall so far off its pedestal in basketball?
Because of the success Florida and Kentucky have had in recruiting, it has taken away what the rest of the SEC can do. Sure, there are some recruits that wind up in those other SEC schools that become NBA-caliber players, but they don’t get the same number, or even close to enough, solid players to keep up.
Right now, LSU and Tennessee are the best-case scenarios for the SEC to challenge Florida and Kentucky for conference supremacy, but even those schools don’t have what it takes to keep the battle consistent.
While most of the other major conferences in college basketball have no clear favorite to clinch the top two spots, the SEC has trouble finding a team other than Florida or Kentucky that has a logical shot and making it a battle. Realistically, only the Mountain West is less remarkable than the SEC, and some even find it hard to acknowledge that conference as a “major conference”.
The SEC is weak, and has been for quite some time. It’s hard to say just how weak it is, though, because college basketball has a tendency to be unpredictable. This is not anything new, either. It’s been happening for a while. Every time there’s a program that appears to be on the rise in the conference, they either lose their coach or so many of their top players that it’s hard to turn around and fill the voids with new players.
Looking at recent history, Ole Miss, Missouri and Vanderbilt have all given the Gators and Wildcats runs for their money, but they haven’t been consistent threats to the crown. It’s actually surprising when another team, those three included, are at the top of the standings for longer than a two or three-year period. It’ll continue to be surprising until we come to expect it, but who knows how long that’s going to be. As long as Donovan and Calipari stick with the college game, it may be a long, long time until a program can take it from there.
There’s no question about the disparity in talent between Florida and Kentucky and the rest of the SEC. It’s been happening for a while, but nobody’s really brought it up. The overall talent is no longer there for the conference and the Wildcats and Gators are reaping the rewards.
The SEC is perhaps the weakest major conference in college basketball, and it may be a while until they crawl out of the hole they are currently in.
Every college basketball season brings about the same arguments. One of the most highly debated amongst fans and scribes is which conference is the best. This season, most will see either the ACC or the Big Ten as the best conference, and rightfully so. At the top of the ACC sits four legitimate national title contenders while the Big Ten always has depth throughout the conference.
However, one conference usually gets left out of the debate because, well, they don’t deserve to be in the discussion. One conference amongst the major conferences, the SEC, is the weakest major conference in college basketball
Why is this? What has made the SEC, a conference that’s so dominant in college football, fall so far off its pedestal in basketball?
Because of the success Florida and Kentucky have had in recruiting, it has taken away what the rest of the SEC can do. Sure, there are some recruits that wind up in those other SEC schools that become NBA-caliber players, but they don’t get the same number, or even close to enough, solid players to keep up.
Right now, LSU and Tennessee are the best-case scenarios for the SEC to challenge Florida and Kentucky for conference supremacy, but even those schools don’t have what it takes to keep the battle consistent.
While most of the other major conferences in college basketball have no clear favorite to clinch the top two spots, the SEC has trouble finding a team other than Florida or Kentucky that has a logical shot and making it a battle. Realistically, only the Mountain West is less remarkable than the SEC, and some even find it hard to acknowledge that conference as a “major conference”.
The SEC is weak, and has been for quite some time. It’s hard to say just how weak it is, though, because college basketball has a tendency to be unpredictable. This is not anything new, either. It’s been happening for a while. Every time there’s a program that appears to be on the rise in the conference, they either lose their coach or so many of their top players that it’s hard to turn around and fill the voids with new players.
Looking at recent history, Ole Miss, Missouri and Vanderbilt have all given the Gators and Wildcats runs for their money, but they haven’t been consistent threats to the crown. It’s actually surprising when another team, those three included, are at the top of the standings for longer than a two or three-year period. It’ll continue to be surprising until we come to expect it, but who knows how long that’s going to be. As long as Donovan and Calipari stick with the college game, it may be a long, long time until a program can take it from there.
There’s no question about the disparity in talent between Florida and Kentucky and the rest of the SEC. It’s been happening for a while, but nobody’s really brought it up. The overall talent is no longer there for the conference and the Wildcats and Gators are reaping the rewards.
The SEC is perhaps the weakest major conference in college basketball, and it may be a while until they crawl out of the hole they are currently in.
