Can SEC become competitive again in basketball

[AU64 10,122]

Maybe just a one year fluke but the conference's best teams got "handled" in the tourney this year and the absence of shooting skill was notable.

TAMU and UK were clearly the best in the SEC and yet those teams only got to the Sweet 16 and not beyond....and laughingly, the entire UK team putting itself up for the NBA draft.

Maybe we are back to the point again next year where the entire league is going to be so bad that AU should be able to move up to the middle of the pack at least.

[autigeremt 6,608]

The SEC will rebound.

[cole256 17,059]

There isn't another conference that loses as many star players as SEC I don't think.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

Yes it can.

[ellitor 33,092]

The question is not can but when will. Overall the coaching has improved w/ the hires over the past 2 year. Recruiting has gotten better in that time also. I expect the conference will turn around the next couple of years.

Also this year was not a fluke. It's part of an ongoing trend. The SEC has been down overall on the national scale for a while. The SEC has not put minimum half its teams in the dance in 9 years. It's usually only been 3 or 4 teams that make it which is pretty bad for a P5 conference. Yes some teams have shined when they made the dance (Thank God for Kentucky!) but the conference has been weak overall in terms of getting there which is my #1 criteria for how good a conference is in basketball.

[AUBwins 10,075]

And we beat Kentucky. That was a great day!

[AU64 10,122]

There isn't another conference that loses as many star players as SEC I don't think.

Good point...and just thinking around the league for a moment, I can't picture a team that will be much stronger than it was this year...on a national scale. A case could be made that things are getting worse relative to other conference ....the trend E mentions.

When playing each other the games can be exciting but looking at the stats....the SEC teams just seem to lack good fundamental players. There are some pretty good coaches scattered aroudn the league but their success has mostly ended at the borders of what ever league they coached in before joining the SEC.

Back to point I suggested some time back....HS basketball in the SEC region is not up to speed with the mid-west and northeast .....probably because the best athletes end up playing football.

As for recruiting, I would rather have the second best 5 players out of Brooklyn than the best 5 players from the entire state of Alabama.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

And we beat Kentucky. That was a great day!

I agree! Beating the teams we did this year was great, (UK, UA, etc.).

I see great days on the horizon for our team.

WDE!!

[AUBwins 10,075]

And we beat Kentucky. That was a great day!

I agree! Beating the teams we did this year was great, (UK, UA, etc.).

I see great days on the horizon for our team.

WDE!!

And looking at wins against UAB and UL Lafayette earlier in the year were good as well. UAB had single digit losses and ULL won 3 or 4 games in the CBI tourney which is more like the NIT of old now. They lost a single digit margin to Ark-LR in the conference tourney which was a 12 seed that had an upset in the tourney this year. All in all we had some woods to be proud of this year. We will get there with Bruce if everyone is patient enough. I sure as heck would love to see Bruce have the arena named after him one day.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

I sure as heck would love to see Bruce have the arena named after him one day.

I have no doubt that if we stick with him and he sticks with us, we will have monster years and the arena will one day be named for him.

WDE!!

[ellitor 33,092]

I have no doubt that if we stick with him and he sticks with us, we will have monster years and the arena will one day be named for him.

WDE!!

Yup! I've ha the name picked out since we hired him. The Pearl Palace.

[AU64 10,122]

And we beat Kentucky. That was a great day!

I agree! Beating the teams we did this year was great, (UK, UA, etc.).

I see great days on the horizon for our team.

WDE!!

And looking at wins against UAB and UL Lafayette earlier in the year were good as well. UAB had single digit losses and ULL won 3 or 4 games in the CBI tourney which is more like the NIT of old now. They lost a single digit margin to Ark-LR in the conference tourney which was a 12 seed that had an upset in the tourney this year. All in all we had some woods to be proud of this year. We will get there with Bruce if everyone is patient enough. I sure as heck would love to see Bruce have the arena named after him one day.

JMO but when an SEC teams claims wins over UAB and UL-LaFayette as a show of strength, things are really in the toilet. Unfortunately, it's not just AU .......even our best conference teams were barely top 20 quality teams.

[auburntiger1987 759]

People need to understand some things. While UAB is in a bad conference, it is not a bad team. Since Mike Anderson, UAB has gone to the dance several times with the last one being last year. They were a game away from making it again this year and easily was the best team in the state. So while a win against them in football isn't worth a darn, beating a basketball school like UAB is a good win. Some on this board need to keep up with more than just AU athletics

[AU64 10,122]

People need to understand some things. While UAB is in a bad conference, it is not a bad team. Since Mike Anderson, UAB has gone to the dance several times with the last one being last year. They were a game away from making it again this year and easily was the best team in the state. So while a win against them in football isn't worth a darn, beating a basketball school like UAB is a good win. Some on this board need to keep up with more than just AU athletics

UAB was a fair team but the concept of Power 5 conference is a myth in basketball...and there are dozens of teams most folks never heard of that are the equal of most SEC teams at 20% of the budget. Few SEC teams are getting their money's worth in basketball.

[bigbird 60,521]

I have no doubt that if we stick with him and he sticks with us, we will have monster years and the arena will one day be named for him.

WDE!!

Yup! I've ha the name picked out since we hired him. The Pearl Palace.

Don't want to call it The Oyster?

[auburnphan 6,050]

I always thought Pearl's Place at Beard Eaves