I was looking at Quad stats earlier today and got curious as I was looking at how crazy good the SEC is this year. In non-quad 1 games, the SEC as a league is currently 184-8 for a 96% win percentage. In conference, there have been a total of 32 non-quad 1 opponents in conference play across the entire conference. That means that out of 142 conference opponents thus far (71 games), 77.5% of them have been Quad 1 games. Absolutely unbelievable quality to a conference.
There simply aren't any bad teams in the SEC this year, no matter the records. Any one of them can and will beat you if you don't show up ready.
On its best day, I could never have imagined the SEC would be this stacked in hoops. Great combination of up and coming coaches and aggressive portal/NIL strategies to build rosters.
LSU would like to make a case here. While they only have 2 losing streaks on the year, they do have 8 conference losses; only 3 of those games were by single digits and none closer than 7 points. They've trailed by double digits in every SEC game they've played this year, and they even helped Mike White hold a late lead. Their average margin in losses in conference play is over 14 points. Plus they have 2 ACC losses on the year. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Here's their OOC records using Kenpom as a guide 0-2 vs. top 60 (44, 45) 4-0 vs. 60 through 150 (62, 64, 80, 145) 3-0 vs. 260 through 300 (260, 291, 296) 4-0 vs. 340+ (340, 342, 346, 364) Their other win was a conference game against Arkansas (#43 KP). Their road win against Kansas State (11th in the Big 12) is probably their best win of the season. Feels like ages ago. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
The SEC has been good at the top for awhile now, but there really are no breaks this year and that’s the difference. LSU or South Carolina in a normal year would be the 8th or 9th best SEC team. I worry about mental fatigue for the league come March.
It is crazy to think that the "bad" team probably slots somewhere around the high 40s to low 50s, based on that data. There are 16 teams and the worst of them is slotting into the 50s at worst? Just nuts.
I think NIL is devastatingly damaging college football but really making a much better men's basketball product
With respect to college hoops, it has almost reversed the damage done by the NBA age limit and that led to the Calipari era, shoe companies getting out of control, the whole 2017 FBI investigation. Has pushed out some respected coaches, obviously (K, Wright, Bennett, etc), but NIL cash has ensured that kids can stay on campus longer rather than going overseas or G-League for comparable money. Portal has also ensured that overlooked, undercruited kids get the opportunity to move up the ladder in college hoops over their careers, too. The game is immensely more experienced than it has been the last two decades or so.
