SEC Basketball: In-depth conference preview

By Stuart Gill | Nov 3, 2016

Mar 13, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari shouts during the second half of the championship game against Texas A&M Aggies of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Kentucky Wildcats won 82-77. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mar 11, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; SEC logo on the basketball court prior to game six of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /

Busting Brackets’ NCAA conference previews continue with SEC basketball.

The SEC continues to display one of the most unbalanced distributions of talent among major conferences in college basketball. Kentucky head coach John Calipari has once again assembled himself an extremely young and even more athletic group of players who know how to score as a unit as well as anyone in the country.

The Texas A&M Aggies, who finished with the same conference record as Kentucky in the 2015-2016 season (13-5), will likely be in the mix for the second slot in the SEC standings. Florida, Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina should provide intriguing teams as well, but the SEC doesn’t look as strong as it has been in years past. In fact, it’s a mad scramble for positioning beyond Kentucky.

The good news is the future could be bright.

While Kentucky enjoys having their pick of the top SEC talent, more and more young players are choosing to attend other SEC schools for the opportunity to play against highly-ranked opponents and benefit from the guidance of well-known coaches such as Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Avery Johnson (Alabama) and Rick Barnes (Tennessee). Their programs haven’t enjoyed an enormous amount of success lately, but having successful coaches take over will bring discipline to the game and lead to drastic improvements in the next few years.

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