Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Florida and Kentucky make the NCAA tournament and make it to the final four. Expected right? How about Tennessee making the sweet 16? Didn’t think so.
The Southeastern Conference has been pretty pathetic over the last couple of years in basketball. Poor play and lack of big name coaches has really hurt national reputation in the eyes of the media and fans of college basketball. With the exception of the big names in Billy Donovan and John Calipari, there are only a handful of other names in the conference that are really well known.
While the conference’s play has improved throughout the years, they have only managed four or fewer teams in the NCAA tournament, five out of the last six years. Each of the last two seasons, the conference has only put in three teams to compete.
Still, despite the conference’s poor play this season, it shouldn’t come as too big a surprise to see how well the conference has fared in the postseason thus far. The three best teams in the conference have shown that even though the conference is not elite, dominance is still existent.
Kentucky
Tennessee
Florida
Kentucky is arguably the most talented team in the conference and has grown up right in front of our eyes the past two weeks in the “Big Dance.” Despite being placed in one of the more challenging regions as just an #8 seed, Kentucky has shown maturity and development alongside their biggest factor of growth, consistency. Faced against teams such as Louisville, Michigan and Wichita St., the Wildcats has not gotten complacent and have remained a steady force.
Relying on what they do best, Kentucky has won the rebounding battle in every tournament game and controlled the tempo effectively. While they will be tested with the hardest team they’ve faced since Florida against Wisconsin, Kentucky looks to be the “team of destiny” right now.
More a little farther down that bracket and see a Tennessee Volunteer team that some would say overachieved as well. Being ranked the #11 seed and having to play in the 1st round of the tournament outside the round of 64, the Volunteers managed to shock the world and make into the sweet 16. Playing to their strength down low with Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee beat three teams and just missed out on beating Michigan for a spot in the elite eight.
Finally, Florida, who has been hands down the best team in the country all year, was no surprise to make it this far. One of the easier picks in the tournament, Florida was picked by over 40% of brackets in the world to make it to the final four. With future hall of famer Billy Donovan at the helm, Florida has cruised through all their tournaments and have beaten every opponent by at least 10 points. Any doubt anyone had on this Gator program because they’re in the SEC, should have been crushed a long time ago.
So you have the three best teams in the conference with a combined 12-1 record in the NCAA tournament, with the possibility of an all-SEC rematch in the championship between Florida and Kentucky. Shouldn’t that validate the conference any more so than National media has spoken all season?
Possibly, however consistency is the key. Currently, the SEC really doesn’t have any serious interest in basketball. Already the dominant force in football and baseball, basketball has stayed under the radar, however, is clearly on the rise.
For now though, we shouldn’t use the elite teams’ success as judgment on an entire conference. Don’t be blinded by Florida and Kentucky’s success. We EXPECTED them to be this good at the start of the season! Kentucky started this year ranked the #1 team in the country with Florida not far behind. All that has happened is the teams have finished where we thought they would be.
Right at the top. A place the SEC is far too familiar with
Still, despite the conference’s poor play this season, it shouldn’t come as too big a surprise to see how well the conference has fared in the postseason thus far. The three best teams in the conference have shown that even though the conference is not elite, dominance is still existent.