SEC Might Make History During March Madness
The SEC is projected to have thirteen teams participating in March Madness this year. According to ESPN bracketology, that would mark the most ever by any conference by breaking the current record of eleven set back in 2011 by the Big East. Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, and Texas A&M sit at the top of the SEC currently, and all signs are pointing to one of those teams being crowned the national champion.
The way in which the SEC is looked at and talked about is reminiscent of a very familiar Bible verse:
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17).
That sentiment has held true all season as the historical nature of the conference has sent shockwaves throughout the league. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas echoed this idea when discussing the SEC on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
“Winning the SEC Tournament is going to be harder than winning the national championship, because you’re doing it day after day after day and all of that stuff and playing better teams throughout the course of it than you would play in the course of the NCAA Tournament.”
He also talked about the success of the SEC against the rest of the country, and how the numbers that are being seen today haven’t been seen in almost forty years. While the majority of conferences have many teams with losing records, the SEC only has one team under .500 (sorry South Carolina).
SEC teams dominate the AP Top 25 as well, with nearly half of the ranked teams being from the conference.
March Madness Easier Than SEC Tourney
With that landscape, it’s easy to see why these teams are so formidable when facing other teams. The level of competition is higher than other conferences which makes every single game a fight. Every coach in the conference knew immediately during the preseason that this year would be a rough one. Kentucky Head Coach Pope said during a press conference back in October that “right now, it is a gauntlet that is to be respected and probably feared a little bit,” and that it’s “really setting the standard for college basketball right now.”
Even Bruce Pearl, head coach of the current No.1 ranked Auburn Tigers foresaw a difficult road to the title. “I’ve never seen it, top to bottom, as good as it is right now,” Pearl said in the preseason. Fast forward to this past Sunday, and Pearl still feels the exact same way. While talking to Coach K on SirusXM, he reiterated the difficulty of the conference, comparing it to high profile football programs and how the SEC has to consistently contend with the best of the best.
“It does remind me a little bit of SEC football, in a sense that if you look at, just take Georgia and Ohio State, you know, Ohio State has a couple of big games in the Big Ten, you know, obviously, Michigan’s a big game, Penn State’s a big game…”
With many fans of college football disappointed in the performance of SEC teams this year, all of the focus has shifted now to basketball. March Madness is just around the corner, and the tournament is sure to entertain. With high profile players such as Cooper Flagg, Marc Spears, Caleb Love, and Johnni Broome lighting up the scoreboard all season, the talent pool is as good as it’s ever been. However, SEC teams have shown that even their middle of the pack teams are better than some of the top teams in other conferences which should lead to their players getting a better chance to shine.
