Here's the thing about the SEC abandoning its divisional alignment in men's basketball: The presence of divisions isn't the reason for the league's decline in potential NCAA tournament teams. The reason is bad basketball, followed closely -- especially in the SEC West -- by bad scheduling.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of a group of power conference teams more consistently dreadful in terms of scheduling than the SEC West. Last year's nonleague schedule rankings weren't anomalies: Auburn Tigers (No. 339), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 284), LSU Tigers (No. 235), Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 217), Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 154), Mississippi Rebels (No. 101). No wonder the Crimson Tide, in particular, never made it off the bubble (despite playing very well down the stretch).
For Joe Lunardi's full take on the scheduling issues facing the SEC West, and what it will take for those six teams to become a relevant part of the NCAA tournament discussion, become an ESPN Insider today.
Joe Lunardi | email
Senior Writer, ESPN.com- Resident college basketball bracketologist for ESPN
- Contributor to SportsCenter, ESPN Insider
- Published first public bracket in 1995
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Fran Fraschilla is an analyst for ESPN and was previously the head coach at New Mexico, St. John's and Manhattan.
Joe Lunardi is the resident bracketologist for ESPN.
Seth Greenberg is an analyst for ESPN and was previously the head coach at Virginia Tech, South Florida and Long Beach State.
