Andy Kennedy was a perfectly fine basketball coach for the old Southeastern Conference.
He posted a 245-154 record and won 20 or more games nine times at Ole Miss, which was unheard at that school. He took the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament twice and the National Invitational Tournament six times.
Ah, but the SEC wants to be great in basketball these days. One by one, its schools poured more money into hoops.
One by one, they made ambitious coaching hires and began playing more ambitious non-conference schedules.
The league once dominated by Kentucky and Florida could send eight or nine teams to this year’s NCAA Tournament.