Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
The Southeastern Conference is known for many things around this country; tailgaiting, beautiful campuses, and gorgeous co-eds to name a few (oh yeah, football too). It may surprise some of you, but the SEC is traditionally a strong basketball conference as well. Tradition that includes 11 national titles, 30 Final Four appearances, and countless legends like Pete Maravich and Dominique Wilkins. However, this historic tradition doesn’t translate well into the current day as the SEC only finds themselves with two teams ranked in the AP top-25 (Florida & Missouri). Even worse, multiple teams like Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Georgia have fallen victim to lowly teams like Troy, Marist, and Youngstown State. Seeing this, one would be safe in assuming that the league is down as a whole, but just how far has it tumbled in recent years? To find out, I used Kenpom.com’s conference power ratings to see where the SEC stacks up (and has stacked up in the past) against other leagues around the country.
(Oh, what do you know? Schuette made another chart. To the comment section, quickly!)
The “rating” number you see above may just seem like another advanced metric that makes no sense, but it’s actually simple to understand. That decimal is simply a combination of offensive and defensive efficiency that predicts how a team would perform against average competition. A higher number equals a better team (and vice-versa). For example, 2010 Kentucky would have around a 95% chance of beating 2010 LSU at a neutral site. I’m fully aware that some of the “best teams” listed above didn’t win the conference, but since I’m listing actual strength it makes more sense to list teams like this.
The first observation that one should make is the rating of the SEC this year as compared to years past (conference ratings are done by averaging all individual team ratings). In terms of offensive and defensive efficiency, this year’s SEC is the weakest ever and by a significant margin too. Something else to consider; once conference play begins the rating will fall even further due to strength of schedule increasing. It may look poor now, but it will only get worse as the season progresses. This hurts Kentucky in a multitude of ways. First and foremost, conference play is supposed to be a time where tough road environments battle test a young team. While it’s still difficult for Kentucky to win on the road given the “everybody’s Superbowl” angle, it theoretically won’t be as difficult like previous years. The second reason why a down SEC hurts Kentucky are the RPI/strength of schedule numbers for NCAA Tournament seeding. Now, the SEC wasn’t exactly the Big Ten last year, but it provided plenty of tough opponents like Vanderbilt, Florida, and Tennessee to build a resume against. This year, Florida, and possibly Missouri, are the only teams in which that argument can be applied to.
No matter what the naysayers post on message boards or spew on talk radio, the SEC was a once great basketball league. Perhaps no better example of this recent greatness would be the 2003-2007 stretch where the SEC was rated 2nd best on 3 separate occasions and once took home the distinction of nation’s top conference. While I’m sure John Calipari and his team are just focusing on getting better, this decline is a shame for the fans who want to see the intense competition of yesteryear. Luckily for the ‘Cats, we’ve proven in the past seasons that the winner of the best conference isn’t always the best team (see 2012 Kentucky or 1990 UNLV). One, however, would be foolish to argue that a good strength of schedule won’t help you prepare for the tournament. It’s impossible to tell how a significantly down SEC will affect Kentucky, but from a resume/team building perspective, it isn’t ideal.
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December 17th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
So was the Big Least!
December 17th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Dude the SEC is not the 7th best conference, that is rediculous. The kenpom rankings mean nothing right now. Wait until february before you post this garbage. Although I agree that the SEC has to get better. They should strive to be the best in both sports, not just football.
December 17th, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Basketball is down this year across the board: unless these kids learn how to play basketball, then our RPI isn’t going to be that relevant. This year team should be nicknamed Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde since we never know which team will show up. We need to put out an APP for Alex Poythress because this kid has disappeared all year, and apparently he has been kidnapped !
December 17th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
I appreciate your work & keep @ it..
December 17th, 2012 at 9:58 pm
11 NC. Really!! UK has 8 Fla has 2 and all other teams have 1 combine. The money will keep us in the SEC, but the ACC is a better place for UK. Basketball is a after thought to most SEC schools. If uk was in the ACC it would give the football team a real shot plus they do care about basketball.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
11 national titles (Kentucky has 8)
30 final fours (Kentucky has 15)
Take out Kentucky’s success, and the SEC has been FAR from a great basketball power historically. Remove Florida and Arkansas, and you’re left with 0 national titles, and 5 final four appearances split between 11 schools.
Kentucky is great. The SEC is not.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:03 pm
BTW Florida had 4 final fours and 2 national titles, Arkansas had 6 final fours and 1 national title. Kentucky is the only school in the SEC to win a national title before 1994. Your argument is invalid.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
It’s cyclical, always has been!
SEC is down, they’ll be back!
December 17th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Something people are missing is that Missouri’s RPI sucks. They are in the 70′s at the moment. Also missing, Kentucky has done nothing to help. Their RPI is currently behind Ole Miss, Alabama, and Tennessee, let alone Florida. At this point, unless Kentucky beats Ville, the only teams in the top 50 going into the conference season will be Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Mizzou IF they beat Illinois.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
#6- while I agree historically that it’s been UK and no one else, the Big 10 has 1 championship since 1990. So from when I was a kid until now the SEC has 6. Ucla dominated for years,, UK has dominated. It’s top heavy. I don’t care about the 1944 Utah championship team. Also take the 1977 Marquette team. They weren’t in a conference. My point is it’s top heavy, and teams and conferences change. I’d rather be the sec with 6 in the past 22 years as compared to the big 10 with 1
December 17th, 2012 at 10:23 pm
No one in the SEC cares…its national title game and football recruiting time.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
10) I definitely agree with his point that the winner of the best conference isn’t always the best team. I was just saying you can’t use final fours and titles as a meter for overall conference success.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Watching Vandy on ESPNU right now. There MIGHT be 1000 people total in Memorial.
Maybe.
Digger would not even need a microphone for this crowd…its sad.
December 17th, 2012 at 10:52 pm
“…once a great basketball league…” And then you mentioned only four years. Hilarious. It’s never been considered a great basketball league. Never.
December 18th, 2012 at 12:53 am
Mississippi is ranked 22nd in Kenpom and Tennessee is ranked higher this year than last. Why not include them as possible quality victories for this season?
Also, Kentucky’s Kenpom rating will not decrease due to a weak schedule. Their rating will decrease if they consistently fail to exceed the predicted level of performance/margin of victory.
December 18th, 2012 at 2:20 am
We have so many smart asses on this sight,why don’t you write some articles.
December 18th, 2012 at 4:44 am
Well, UK Freshmen; you have never been considered a great poster, or even a good one, but it doesn’t stop you from posting.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:20 am
17, What doe you expect from a FRESHMEN?
December 18th, 2012 at 9:08 am
Pomeroy’s rankings still dont make sense. They’re more of a projection than an actual ranking based on what you’ve accomplished in the season. Duke is 9-0 vs the #3 SOS…. but ranked #4, behind a Louisville team they already beat.
December 18th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
@ 10 I thought Michigan St has won 2 titles with Izzo? Am I wrong on that?
December 18th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Facts are facts. The fact here is UK is a basketball school in a football conference. UK should be in the ACC if we did what is best for our teams. Just too much money to walk away from. If we where in the ACC our football program would stand a fighting shot. Does any one other then a UK homer really think we stand a chance of winning the SEC in football?