SEC: Why You Need To Stop Hating On the Conference

Your hate for the SEC gets annoying.

Extremely annoying.

Who’s the “you” that I’m referring to? You, the imaginary, fictional person, (who, in reality, is very real) who’s seen every NCAA game ever televised since 1987. The same person who probably still thinks that Notre Dame is a national powerhouse.

ALSO ON HOOPSHABIT Do You Believe The Rodney Hood Hype?

Nothing’s wrong with the Golden Domers, but it seems like everything is wrong with the SEC to you — when in reality, it’s one of the premier conferences in college basketball. It’s about time for a bit of respect.

When it comes to football, there’s no argument. When it comes to basketball, however, a lot of people seem to hold their breath when talking about the SEC. Keep holding your breath, it’s all good. Here’s a stat that’ll blow your mind. The numbers don’t lie.

Mar 28, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari speaks during the trophy presentation after the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the finals of the midwest regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. Kentucky won 68-66. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

For the fourth time in the last five years the SEC has produced at least one team in the NCAA Final Four. In addition, since 1993, the SEC has won six national championships. The only other conference that has reached that same plateau is the ACC. They’ve also managed to win six national championship titles in the same time span.

Not the Pac-12. Not the Big Ten. Not the Big-12. The SEC.

That same person is probably reading this and then thinking, “Oh, it’s because of Kentucky.”

Well, if that’s the case then look no further than the Summer League for the NBA.

In the Utah Summer League, Rodney Hood, who played at Mississippi State before leaving in his sophomore year to play with Jabari Parker at Duke, looks like a bonafide future Sixth Man of the Year candidate. Hood’s one of the players in the league that’s expected to make a huge step in his sophomore season after missing a lot of games during his rookie season because of injuries.

Playing for the Utah Jazz during the Utah Summer League, we’ve seen Hood breakout for a huge game against the Boston Celtics where he had a monster double-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He also scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help Utah secure a victory. In addition Hood, also had a great game against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring 18 points and once again taking over down the stretch for another Utah victory.

Meanwhile in the Orlando Summer League, we’ve seen two other SEC standouts play well too. Aaron Harrison, a natural shooting guard with a sweet jump shot who played at Kentucky, is leaving his mark.

Harrison, who’s making the transition to point guard, is thriving playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Harrison’s averaging 13 points per game and he’s the third leading scorer on the roster. Let’s keep in mind that Harrison went undrafted. It goes to show you how much talent you can get from an SEC player, even if it’s from someone who was looked at as an afterthought.

Speaking of being overlooked, Josh Richardson has also been impressive during his time playing in Orlando. The Miami Heat have a 5-0 record and a lot of that has to do with the fact that Richardson has been playing. Richardson’s one of the most intelligent defenders in the 2015 rookie class.

Most people haven’t heard of Richardson, let alone seen him play basketball, but he’s still going to become a household name playing in Miami.

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