OT: SEC Basketball Complaining about Being Treated Like Mid-Major Conference
The SEC basketball coaches are bitching about being treated like a mid-major conference after playing like one:
Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin predicted two weeks ago that the SEC would earn six bids.
Martin said the SEC's three bids were an ''embarrassment'' after the brackets were revealed, and he didn't back down from those comments Monday. He said Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama are ''NCAA tournament teams'' that landed in the NIT.
''It's almost like a mid-major mentality in this league, when you've got your second-place team that doesn't get in the NCAA tournament,'' Martin said. ''This is a BCS league. It's one of the best leagues in America. That shouldn't happen.''
The SEC's non-conference performance indicates it actually wasn't one of the best leagues in the nation this season.
As the article goes on to point out, the SEC had losing records against all BCS conferences and performed worse than two mid-major conferences.
Isn't Austin, despite it's location in Texas, that city that all "real" Texans regard with suspicion and disdain?
Kentucky probably would have been on the right side of the bubble had Nerlens Noel not gotten hurt as they were 17-6 at the time and finished 4-5. With him they were a decent team. Iowa and arguably Purdue are better than Alabama or Tennessee. Not good teams.
In general if you want to complain about how you are treated relative to other conferences it is a good idea not to go 0-3 against them as Tennessee did. But best of luck to him in the NIT or CBI or CIT or whatever it is they call those things now.
You're right - if Noel doesn't go down, UK probably gets in, but Ole Miss probably doesn't (because then, as the 3 seed, they would have had to beat UK and Florida in back to back games, and I bet that doesn't happen). So that still likely gets them 3 bids.
The SEC is spoiled because their football programs are treated like they excrete odorless feces, and they expect the same preferential treatment in basketball. Maybe they should give a few more of those ho-stesses and golden handshakes to basketball players and recruits.
In the article, Calipari mentions that there is a perception that the league is down, and indeed, the SEC collectively went 38-88 in conference games on the road (Florida is the only team with a winning conference road record too), just short of .500 on neutral courts, and managed a somewhat anemic 0.186 winning percentage against the Top 25. Interestingly, last year, thanks in large part to an up Kentucky team, the SEC was 0.614 on neutral courts and 0.351 against the Top 25.
To Cuonzo Martin's point, I have to believe that Western Carolina is not seen as a statement win typically, nor is a mere 7-point victory over a lowly Auburn team. In any case, I believe we saw quite a few 20 to 21-win teams like Tennessee and Alabama get passed over on Sunday for various reasons, and thus far, only the SEC has put its crushed ego on display for all to behold (also, to ridicule).
See above.
And it's funny that you pick 1990, since we won it in 1989.
That 1 was a 0. Forgot about Michigan State in 2000, huh?
- Are you defending the SEC? If so, why?
- Why 1990? I can arbitrarily pick dates too. In 2000, the Big Ten won 1 national title and the SEC won 0.
- Of those, Florida has 2, Arkansas 1, and Kentucky 3. Cool, the SEC is usually dominated by one team each year (generally Kentucky or Florida). No one will deny that UK is good, or Florida is good. One good team doesn't make your conference strong.
- Why is conference strength determined by # of national championships? Probably should do something more inclusive, like win pct against other leagues or something useful.
UT alum, from a MIch family.
Seemed like a nice round number.
You could make the same argument for Indiana and MIch St. I think a Big 10 - SEC challenge would be a little more interesting yu Mich fans seem to think.
It isn't, just a little perspective.
Enjoy the NIT
As if UM fans have no idea what the NIT feels like.......smh
March 19th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
But last time I saw Tennessee being anything close to nationally relevant, they were getting bombed by 30 by us.
Tennessee fans trolling our board......smh
Right, and so will the Pac 12. No one will deny you that Kentucky and UCLA have been great basketball programs. It doesn't make their conferences great, though.
Kentucky has always been good. Florida has been very good in the last decade, but that's about it and Arkansas had a few great years where they won one championship. The SEC has a total of 3 non-UK championships. This is not a good measure of overall conference strength.
The Big Ten has had 5 different teams win it all. The SEC has had 3. Is my bad argument any better than your bad argument?
So now SEC teams should be allowed into the dance because they are a power six conference and they are the "SEC". What a joke. According to Teamranking, the SEC as conference has a worse RPI and SOS compared to two mid-major conferences.
| Conference | Conference RPI | Conference SOS |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain West | 0.58 | 0.57 |
| Big Ten | 0.577 | 0.573 |
| Big East | 0.574 | 0.567 |
| ACC | 0.561 | 0.557 |
| Big 12 | 0.558 | 0.557 |
| Pac 12 | 0.555 | 0.555 |
| A-10 | 0.549 | 0.547 |
| SEC | 0.542 | 0.541 |
If you don't want to be treated like a mid-major then beat the out of conference opponents you have to raise your team(s) and conference RPI. Instead of doing that, SEC teams lose to likes of Mercer, Tulane, Dayton, Iona and so forth. They have their opportunities to beat the good teams but they never do. Moreover, with the departure of the Big East, there will no longer be the SEC vs. Big East show down which won't help their conference capitalize on matchups versus quality Big East teams. While Florida and Kentucky bolster the conference image, the conference as a whole suffers from depth issues and the chance to pick up quality wins against each other unlike the Big East or Big Ten. Do I feel sorry for the SEC? Hell no! Enjoy the NIT Cuonzo.
Sidenote: I can't wait for the tournament to start and watch the teams in the SEC get bounced especially Ole Miss.
They are the worst major conference in basketball. Cuonzo just tryin to get the fans behind him and the team in the NIT. I wonder how much more money they'd bring in if they expanded to 128? Might be worth it to keep the big schools and small schools happy. If it involves more names like jackrabbits and billikens, I am IN.
is like that. Maybe the craziest collection of D1 mascots anywhere: Mastodons, Jaguars, Kangaroos, Mavericks, Bison, Golden Grizzlies, Coyotes, Jackrabbits, Leathernecks.
1. NOT EVER THE SEC
SEC, slang for "who gives a shit?"
Maybe it is me (I only read the block quote) but it reads as if he is more or less calling out his own league for being so down and not performing up to expectations for being a major conference. I do not read it as him saying they should have gotten more teams in based on their seasons but that they should get more teams in because they should have one more games and been competetive as a league in the national landscape.
I went back and read the block quote with your outlook in mind, and that makes sense except for the line where he says Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama are "NCAA Tournament teams" but they didn't get bids. That, to me, reads like he feels they deserved a bid but didn't get one.
Now, it could be a little of both, but that would make more sense coming from a coach whose team made it, but was disappointed the rest of his league didn't do their part. But this is coming from a coach of a team that didn't get in, so in your view he would be calling himself out for not performing up to expectations, and that's unlikely.
When Kentucky in a terrible year can finish tied for 2nd and still not make the tournament, the SEC sucks. Sorry Cuanzo. Tennessee sucks too.
I dont think 20 -12 qualifies as sucking. I remember UM having quite a few of those seasons as well. When's the last time MIch made back to back Elite 8"s?
I love Michigan, my grandfather went to school there, but I am a UT alum and some of you have very convenient memories.
I get it, the SEC sucked this year, and the B10 was awesome. That isnt always the case.
that Kentucky got knocked out by NIT 8th seed Robert Morris.
So...who's sense of anticipatory schadenfreude is leading them to root for Mercer tomorrow?
So in the future when there are four 16-team super conferences, and they withdraw from the NCAA, everyone in the Super Conference Athletic Association will get into the SCAA Basketball Tournament Sponsored by (insert highest bidder).
March 19th, 2013 at 10:29 PM ^
When you are used to seing the football coaches getting "taken care of", I am sure the ego hurts a bit when the basketball program doesn't get lobster shoved up their...
March 20th, 2013 at 12:22 PM ^
this is now at least twice as amusing. Can we retroactively take another bid away from them? Maybe send Mizzou home in favor of Iowa?
March 20th, 2013 at 10:04 PM ^