It’s no secret the caliber of basketball being played in the SEC has improved dramatically. In 2017, a surprise tournament run by South Carolina (the worst seven-seed in tournament history, Matt?) helped the conference land three teams in the Elite 8. Last year the SEC was perhaps as deep as it’s ever been, sending eight teams to the NCAA tournament. The most recent projections by Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm indicate that the conference has a chance to repeat that feat this year, likely sending between six and eight teams to the Big Dance.
But last year, no one really thought the SEC had a national championship contender—and that assumption proved true when Tennessee and Kentucky were both upset in disappointing fashion.