Storyline: Weak SEC basketball is causing distress in The Commonwealth. Some people think UK should leave the conference. Here’s what I think.
This college basketball season has made the case even stronger for those who think Kentucky needs to leave the SEC.
Courtesy: USA Today.com
The Wildcats complete and utter dominance this season–and the struggle of SEC schools in non-conference play (even against mid-major schools)–has only added fuel to the fire: Kentucky is a basketball school and the SEC is a football conference. So it only makes senses that the two part ways, right?
Big mistake!
There are three reasons why Kentucky shouldn’t leave the SEC–and these three reasons are also why the Wildcats will never leave the conference.
UK Is A Founding Member of the Conference
In 1932 several schools in the Southern Conference decided to break off and form a new conference, “The Southeastern Conference.” The charter schools included all of the SEC’s current membership except for Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas A&M.
Florida-Kentucky football, 1974 (photo, kdl.kyvl.org
What’s the point in offering this historical blurb? It’s to proclaim that Kentucky was a FOUNDING member of the SEC. If UK were to leave the SEC, the conference would lose a major part of its identity. Kentucky would also lose its home.
Just look at semi-new SEC members, Texas A&M and Missouri. While both schools have seen success as SEC members, they no longer get to play rivals–MU-Kansas and A&M-Texas. I mean, seriously, can you imagine a UK basketball (or even football) conference schedule without Florida or Tennessee? Exactly.
UK Football Is Getting Better
Another reason people think UK needs to leave the SEC is because the Wildcats’ football program is not nearly as good as the other SEC members. During the Joker Philips’ years that was true: the Wildcats were not s good as most Sun Belt Conference teams. The SEC was as strong as ever during that time, and the Wildcats were getting wedgies every single Saturday. Leaving the SEC seemed like a viable and necessary option–for both UK and the conference.
But now isn’t the time to hit the escape button.
Kentucky’s Randall Cobb (18) celebrates the win over UL (photo, Lexington Herald-Leader)
This past season showed that Kentucky’s football program is on the rise. Outside of a good-ole’ fashioned 45-7 whupping at Florida, the Wildcats held their own. UK finished 4-4 in conference play, tied for second in the conference, and the Wildcats even had a chance for an SEC championship appearance before Florida clinched the Eastern division title late in the season.
And with the Wildcats being one of the youngest teams in the FBS, a trip to Atlanta next season may not be such a long shot.
Kentucky football is on its way up. Coach Mark Stoops is retooling the program for long-term success. The school and conference need to be patient and see what the future holds. Where I stand, the future is looking bright.
SEC Basketball is Down, Not Finished
There was a time when SEC basketball was every bit as respected as SEC football. It may have been underappreciated in a region where football is king. But the success of SEC programs in basketball gained recognition at the national level.
Courtesy: Syracuse.com
For a time, Bruce Pearl and Kevin Stallings were winning like crazy at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, respectively, and the Volunteers and Commodores were always ‘a definite’ in the AP poll every single week. Arkansas has tailed off some, but they still have a decent program after winning the national championship in 1994. Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators emerged as a national powerhouse–appearing in four Final Fours and winning the national title twice (2006 and 2007)–during his tenure in Gainesville.
Ah, those were much simpler times.
If you take Kentucky out of the conference today, the SEC would be almost irrelevant in basketball. But most people don’t understand that a conference is like a stock market: year-to-year it has its highs and lows.
Before the resurgence of programs like Arizona and UCLA, the PAC-12 was also a conference that got kicked around by pretty much everybody. Northwestern, a member of the mighty Big Ten, has never even received a bid for the NCAA tournament (ironic considering the university hosted the first-ever NCAA championship in 1939).
The point is that all conferences experience low points and lulls. But SEC basketball is headed in the right direction. Florida coach, Mike White, has recruited good talent and has the Gators back on the national scene. Frank Martin has totally transformed South Carolina’s program. Behind Rick Barnes I see Tennessee making a major move over the next couple of years. Billy Kennedy will figure things out and turn Texas A&M back into a winning program.
What’s It All Mean?
Courtesy: Wikipedia.com
The SEC will always be a “football-first” conference, but SEC basketball is on the rise. Mark my words: It won’t be too long before Kentucky is having to face some pretty stout competition in conference hoop play.
Kentucky doesn’t need to leave the SEC. It would not go over with well with Big Blue Nation and the South as a whole if UK were to depart the SEC.
The association between UK and the SEC is just too strong.
KENTUCKY WILL NEVER LEAVE THE SEC!
