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Overvalued SEC? Lower seed SEC programs underwhelm at NCAA Tournament
By Ethan Stone
Published:
The bottom of the SEC struggled mightily during the first round of the NCAA tournament. All SEC programs to enter March Madness with a below .500 conference record lost except Arkansas, which outlasted Kansas thanks to stellar performances from Jonas Aidoo and Johnell Davis.
That’s not to say the SEC as a whole struggled, necessarily. Instead, it supports the argument from some that insist no conference should see 14 teams accept a bid to the Big Dance. The top of the conference – teams with records above .500 – finished 7-1 in the Round of 64. SEC teams under .500, however, finished 1-5.
Compare that to the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East, all of which finished the Round of 64 with more wins than losses. The Big Ten was fantastic and went 8-0 across the past 2 days with the Big 12 just behind at 6-1. The Big East went 3-2 in the Round of 64 while the SEC combined to go 8-6.
The ACC struggled heavily, but only saw 4 teams crack the field. Louisville, North Carolina and Clemson all lost, leaving Duke as the only representative for what used to be the best conference in basketball.
The Round of 32 starts on Saturday, and while the bottom of the SEC struggled the top of the conference still looks to be in good position to put several teams in the Final Four.
Make no mistake – It’s not like Vanderbilt, Texas or Oklahoma were going to advance that far anyway. At least, that’s what history tells us. But it will inevitably make some wonder whether West Virginia or Boise State “deserved” a spot over 2 of the above.
The SEC is back in action Saturday with Arkansas facing St. John’s, Texas A&M facing Michigan, Auburn facing Creighton and Tennessee facing UCLA.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
