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SEC: The Weakest Major Conference in College Basketball

By Nathan Giese

Mar 14, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Fox (right) reacts to a foul call and draws a technical foul against the Mississippi Rebels during the second half in the quarterfinals of the SEC college basketball tournament at Georgia Dome. Georgia defeated Mississippi 75-73. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Fox (right) reacts to a foul call and draws a technical foul against the Mississippi Rebels during the second half in the quarterfinals of the SEC college basketball tournament at Georgia Dome. Georgia defeated Mississippi 75-73. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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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.

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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?

A number of factors play into this, but one of the biggest is the fact that the normal two teams at the top of the conference, Florida and Kentucky, have too much firepower for the rest of the conference to keep up.

Looking at Kentucky alone, each year they bring in at least four top-rated recruits and add them to solid recruits they already have. It’s been the Wildcats and everybody else in the country, let alone the SEC, when it comes to recruiting. They get the best players and have been a consistent presence in the national championship picture since John Calipari took over. His arrival put a halt to most of the SEC when it comes to recruiting. I say most, because Florida is always a presence as well.

Florida has had just as much success as Kentucky has had in basketball in recent years. Four straight years of making it at least to the Elite Eight and with a Final Four appearance last year, Billy Donovan has had the luxury of getting solid recruits, ones that fit into his system, and keeping enough talented players on his roster to build around them. He and Calipari have two different styles of recruiting, but both are very effective.

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.

February 12, 2013; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan and Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari shake hands before the game at the Stephen C. O
February 12, 2013; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan and Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari shake hands before the game at the Stephen C. O /

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.

Tennessee just went through some turmoil with Cuonzo Martin and the changeover to Donnie Tyndall. Couple that with the loss of their two best players, Jarnell Stokes and Jordan McRae, the Volunteers could be in for a rough year, taking out one of the top contenders right there. LSU retains some solid talent, but overall, their team can only hope that either the Wildcats, Gators or both slip up along the way to get a shot at the SEC title.

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.