LOUISVILLE, Ky, (WDRB) -- The drum has been banging persistently since early December when 16 teams from the Southeastern Conference thundered into the SEC/ACC men's basketball Challenge and emerged with 14 victories.
By week six, the league started stacking at least half the teams in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll and nine or more in the Top 25.
Fourteen SEC teams have been ranked at some point this season. The exceptions are LSU and South Carolina. Six SEC teams started the season in the Top 25 and have not departed.
You've seen the projections. Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com has 13 SEC teams included in his latest projection for the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket.
That would be two more than the record 11 set by the Big East in 2011.
That's three more than the Big Ten is expected to earn next month.
That's more than triple the four bids that Lunardi has set aside for Duke, Louisville, Clemson and Wake Forest to represent the once mighty-ACC.
The numbers are difficult to question or debate. SEC teams have played non-league games against teams from 28 other conferences. Greg Sankey's league has a winning record against all but one conference — the Missouri Valley.
Drake beat Vanderbilt while Southern Illinois lost to Florida, leaving the leagues with a draw.
Still not impressed? Consider this: In games against teams from the ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and Big East, SEC teams are 59-19. That's a winning percentage of .756, carried by the SEC's remarkable dominance over the ACC (30-4) and Big 12 (14-2.)
For record, here are the four ACC victories over the SEC:
- Duke 84, Auburn 78
- Clemson 70, Kentucky 66
- Pitt 74, LSU 63
- SMU 74, LSU 64
Appears we have a major issues in Baton Rouge. Bring back Dale Brown.
In his analytics formula, Ken Pomeroy has created a overall power number for every league. The SEC power number for this season is 21.96.
I can't explain everything that is factored into the number but I can tell you that is the highest ranking of any league since Pomeroy crafted the numbers for the 1997 season.
And there were some awfully strong ACCs (Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Skip Prosser) and Big Easts (Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, Bob Huggins, Jamie Dixon, Jay Wright) during those days.
Only twice has a league posted a number better than 20: the ACC in 1997 (21.37) and the ACC again in 2004 (20.32).
The Big Ten is Pomeroy's second most powerful league this season with a ranking of 17.93. The ACC lags in fifth at 9.32.
How unusual is this?
Very.
I checked Pomeroy's number. This is only the third time the SEC has sat at the top of his conference rankings, the first time it has happened since Tubby Smith was Kentucky's coach.
Here is the breakdown since 1997:
- 10: Big 12 — 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
- 7: Big Ten —1999, 2000, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2020, 2021
- 6: ACC — 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007. (It's been awhile, commissioner Jim Phillips.)
- 3: SEC — 2002, 2003, 2025
- 2: Pac-10 — 2008, 2009
- 1: Big East — 2006
The SEC has invested in basketball. The investment has worked.
Over the last decade, the league has assembled a collection of talented coaches with varied credentials.
There are the vets like Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl and John Calipari who know what it takes to get to the Final Four.
There the younger veterans like Chris Beard, Nate Oats and Porter Moser who have also taken their programs to the final weekend of the season, as well as Buzz Williams, who does not have that Final Four credential — yet.
There are the determined up-and-comers like Todd Golden, Dennis Gates and Mark Pope who are determined to crack the code.
It's been a remarkable year for SEC basketball, building a league that the rest of college basketball will be trying to stop in March.
College Basketball Coverage:
- Inside job: Kentucky discovers its inner bully, exploits size to pound Vanderbilt 82-61
- BOZICH | U of L, UK hold NCAA seeds; Calipari play-in game; IU not dead yet?
- BOZICH | Even if Louisville doesn't catch Duke, Cards can make ACC history
- Make it 20! Louisville pulls away from Notre Dame for 75-60 victory, 20th win
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