Coaches say SEC will vindicate hype

Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy, left, and Arkansas coach Mike Anderson shake hands prior to a game Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- SEC basketball coaches are talking up the conference again, and this time people are listening.

"We said all last year the league is really good, and I think the media thought, 'Well, there they go again with the typical coach-speak,' " Georgia Coach Mark Fox said. "But this league was very good, and then we proved it."

The SEC sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament last year -- its most since 2012 -- and they combined to go 11-5.

"We got teams in the NCAA Tournament, and we won," Arkansas Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. "That's the best advertisement for the SEC right there."

Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina advanced to the Elite Eight while the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville took eventual national champion North Carolina to the wire in a second-round game. Vanderbilt lost in the final seconds to Northwestern in a first-round game.

South Carolina beat Florida in the East Regional final as the Gamecocks made their first Final Four appearance.

"This is our time now," Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. "It's our turn. What we did last year was a great start of it."

After last year's strong NCAA Tournament showing, expectations are higher for the SEC this season.

"I think this year we're not having to give that sales pitch as much about SEC basketball because the media already believes it, and that's what shapes the perception more than anything," Fox said. "This league has got great depth now."

ESPN is projecting seven SEC teams to make the NCAA Tournament: Arkansas, Kentucky, Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, Alabama and Vanderbilt.

"I won't be surprised if us or another team in this league makes the run like we made last year, because our league prepares us for that," South Carolina Coach Frank Martin said. "This league is so well coached. The players are so good.

"It's a shame everyone outside of the coaches and players hasn't realized how good this league is."

Kentucky is ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll, followed by No. 8 Florida and No. 25 Texas A&M. Three other SEC teams received votes: Alabama, Missouri and South Carolina.

"I think the league's as good as it's been since I've been a part of the SEC at 18 years old, and that's been 22 years ago," said Florida Coach Mike White, who played point guard at Ole Miss. "If you just study the rosters and the talent level, I'm not sure you've had this many capable teams. Those teams picked in the bottom half of our league, those are some good teams that I think can compete with a lot of teams nationally."

The SEC has 18 of its top 30 scorers back from last season -- including Arkansas senior guards Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford, and Florida guard KeVaughn Allen from North Little Rock -- and some of the country's top freshmen led by Missouri forward Michael Porter Jr.

Porter is a first-team preseason All-American on several teams, and Texas A&M sophomore forward Robert Williams made some All-American teams as a third-teamer.

Calipari signed another top-rated recruiting class with four McDonald's All-Americans, led by forward Kevin Knox.

"Cal gets some good players in there," Anderson said. "You can't refute that, and Cal does a great job with those guys.

"But I think this is a year you're going to see some teams fighting for a chance to win the conference. They're not handing the trophy to Kentucky. They're not handing it to Florida or Texas A&M. They're not handing it to Arkansas."

New Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin, who took Tennessee to the Sweet 16 in 2014 before leaving for California, has transformed the Tigers into an SEC contender after they finished a combined 8-46 in conference play the previous three seasons.

Martin signed a class that rivals Kentucky in national impact, led by 6-10 Porter Jr. and his younger brother, 6-11 Jontay Porter, who are both five-star recruits.

The Tigers' class also includes 6-10 Jeremiah Tilmon -- a four-star Illinois signee who was released from his letter of intent after the Illini made a coaching change -- and four-star guards Blake Harris and C.J. Roberts.

"The guys that have been here, we've meshed really well with the freshman," Missouri junior forward Kevin Puryear said. "We're glad they're here."

Missouri has sold out of its season-ticket allotment.

"It used to be pretty easy to get tickets to a Mizzou basketball game," Puryear said. "People are really stoked now.

"The last couple years we used to go places and eat and nobody would really recognize us. Now we go places and people want their pictures taken with us, especially Michael."

Texas A&M is expected to be one of the SEC's top teams -- after going 16-15 last season -- with the addition of freshman point guard J.J. Caldwell to get the ball to big men Williams and Tyler Davis.

"We're talented on paper," Aggies Coach Billy Kennedy said. "We've got a good-looking paper team. Size, length, top 100 players.

"But talent can under-achieve, too. We need to beware of that."

If the Aggies falter, there will be other SEC teams to pick up the slack.

"This is the most talented league I've ever been in, and I've been in some good ones in the Pac-12, in the Big 12," Kennedy said. "LSU is picked last in the SEC this year, and they beat us for some kids in recruiting."

The SEC's depth in basketball is reminiscent of what the conference used to have in football.

Basketball was viewed as being top-heavy with Kentucky and another team or two as being good in most seasons, while SEC football teams filled the top 25 polls.

Now Alabama and Georgia are challenging for football playoff spots with Auburn also in the top 10, but overall the SEC is perceived as being down.

"I can tell you our football team at Georgia is legit, but our league does appear to be a little top-heavy," Fox said with a smile. "As uneducated as I am in the sport of football, that would be my assessment.

"But in basketball? That's not the case anymore in the SEC. There's a lot of really, really good teams, and there's going to be some of us beating up on each other this year.

"If you can be .500 in the league this year, you should be just a lock for the NCAA Tournament."

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Sports on 11/08/2017