SEC Unfiltered: Is the SEC getting enough credit for improving basketball scheduling?

John Adams, Nashville Tennessean
·1 min read
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl shakes hands after the game at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Auburn Tigers defeated Mississippi Rebels 77-64.
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl shakes hands after the game at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Auburn Tigers defeated Mississippi Rebels 77-64.
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Welcome to SEC Unfiltered, the USA TODAY NETWORK's newsletter on SEC sports. Look for this newsletter in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Today, Knoxville News Sentinel columnist John Adams takes over:

After a home-court victory over Kentucky, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was asked about achieving basketball success at a “football school.”

“We’re an everything school,” Pearl said with his usual enthusiasm.

You could apply the same line of thinking to the entire SEC. Football might come first, but the league excels in all sports.

Its greatest strides have come in men’s basketball.

Former conference commissioner Mike Slive stressed that schools had to bolster their non-conference schedules if they hoped to make a favorable impression on the NCAA Tournament selection committee. SEC schools heeded his advice, strengthened their schedules, and began sending more schools to the NCAA Tournament.

But I question whether the conference is getting enough credit for its currently robust scheduling.

When the NCAA announced its first NCAA Tournament reveal, Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee received first, second and third seeds, respectively.

But you need to check how SEC teams have fared against No. 1 seeds to best appreciate just how tough the conference is.

Tennessee beat No. 1 seed Arizona. Alabama beat No. 1 seed Gonzaga. Kentucky beat No. 1 seed Kansas by 18 points at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas was 22-4 when the selection committee announced its seeding. Kentucky was 21-5. A one-game advantage in the overall record shouldn’t have been enough to seed the Jayhawks ahead of a team that routed them on their home court.

February seeding does nothing more than create debate. SEC teams will have a chance to prove themselves in March.

At least seven SEC teams should qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Four of them could make the Sweet 16.

And prove again that the SEC is much more than a football conference.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SEC basketball: Scheduling, Auburn, Tennessee