GoGamecocks.com
Morris: Selection sting proves SEC must fix its plan
USC senior Zam "Buck" Frederick II, right, gets a hug from his father, Gamecock legend Zam Fredrick following the younger Fredrick's final college game in their NIT loss to Davidson.
Jeff Blake/jblake@thestate.com /The State
Posted on 03.20.09
Comments
THE EMBARRASSMENT THAT was Selection Sunday should be the perfect wakeup call for SEC men’s basketball. It is long past time for the league and its coaches to treat SEC basketball as more than a redheaded stepchild.
The timing of Sunday’s humbling of the league could not have been better. Mike Slive, the SEC commissioner, happened to be chairman of the NCAA tournament selection committee this season. Thus, he saw first-hand all of the SEC’s warts as exposed by the committee. Also, the league hitting rock bottom in men’s basketball comes as it embarks on a new television contract for the sport, meaning more national exposure for conference teams is on the way.
One of the major story lines to come out of the NCAA tournament committee’s selections and seeding was the inexplicably poor representation of the SEC. LSU, the league’s regular-season champion, was seeded eighth. The SEC’s best team was considered on the same level with Ohio State, the fifth-place finisher in the Big Ten conference, and Brigham Young, which won a share of the Mountain West title.
Tennessee, which played one of the most difficult schedules in the country and shared the SEC East Division crown, was seeded ninth. So Tennessee was considered comparable to Siena, champion of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference at the No. 9 seed.
Worse yet, Mississippi State, which won 23 games and took the SEC tournament title, was seeded 13th. The Bulldogs were considered by the NCAA on the same par with perennial basketball powers Cleveland State, Portland State and Akron.
Sadly, this collective slap in the face to the SEC came two seasons after Florida won the second of back-to-back national championships, and one season after the SEC sent half of its teams to the NCAA tournament.
But instead of promoting itself the past few seasons as being among the nation’s best basketball conferences, or building on that success by gaining more national exposure on TV, the SEC appeared to shrug its shoulders and continue its incessant talk about the league’s great lineup of football coaches.
The league’s basketball coaches long have believed the SEC is run by a bunch of “helmet heads.” There is at least a kernel of truth in that assessment.
Dave Odom, who was reared on ACC basketball, beat his head against the wall for seven seasons at USC as he attempted to gain recognition for, and to promote, SEC basketball.
Odom suggested a series of East-West showdown weekends in the SEC, a group of games that could have attracted a national television audience and determined some sort of quasi-title for the winning side. The SEC was not interested.
To be fair, the indictment on the SEC is in large part directed toward its basketball coaches. While there might exist a prevailing attitude that men’s basketball is merely a bridge between football seasons at SEC headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., the coaches generally have not campaigned for better treatment and recognition of their sport.
Let me give you an example. The ACC annually touts the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the early season matchup of 11 teams from each league. Most of the games are televised nationally, and college basketball fans closely follow the final record of each league. The event helps promote both leagues.
How many college basketball fans even know about the SEC/Big East Challenge? No need to raise your hand; I know the answer. Few know about it because it includes only four teams from each league every season, and it is not promoted nationally on TV as a big event.
When the contract for the SEC/Big East Challenge expires following the 2010-11 season, the field must expand to include 12 teams from each league. Then it will be a legitimate challenge, one that deserves national attention.
Here again, Odom long ago took a suggestion to the SEC that fell on deaf ears. He wanted the SEC and ESPN to partner and coax the six BCS conferences to participate in a series of challenges. The challenges would take place over a 10-year period with a rotation every two years. For instance, the SEC would play the ACC for two years, then move on to the Pacific-10, Big Ten, Big East and Big 12.
Despite all the doom and gloom following this season, there is reason to believe SEC basketball is on the verge of a transformation. It starts with Slive, the SEC commissioner. His experience as chairman of the NCAA tournament selection committee made him realize the league needs to change its ways.
The first thing that will help precipitate that change is the SEC’s new 15-year, $2.25 billion television deal with ESPN. Although the package includes all sports, there is little doubt men’s basketball could benefit most.
The deal will add a second and third night of SEC basketball on ESPN and ESPN2 each week. ABC will carry two additional nationally televised regular-season games. ABC also will televise the SEC tournament semifinals and championship game.
None of that additional exposure will amount to much, though, unless Slive carries through with his promised edict. He wants SEC coaches to beef up their nonconference schedules, mostly so the league will improve but also because ESPN does not want an endless run of early season games like Mississippi against Delaware State.
So all is not lost. The SEC must take the latest putdown and begin to put up. Otherwise, shut up about being treated by the NCAA as a second-class citizen.
Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM
Most Viewed Stories
- Archie hurt as USC falls to Miami
- Jones Commits To USC
- Recruiting: Moses' interest grows away from Virginia
- Gamecocks Take A Pass On Neal
- Basketball buzz: Has Miami found Achilles’ heel?
- Former USC player Hawkins hospitalized
- Stephens, USC women teach Penn St. lesson
- Gamecocks' Gilmore wise beyond his years
- Bama ties flow through USC-Clemson rivalry
- Fulton Still Working On Decision
@Nyx.CommentBody@