NCAA Basketball: 5 key storylines to watch for the rest of December

3. Is the SEC for real?

Conference scorn directed towards the Big Ten takes up the majority of the league-by-league discussion. The Big Ten has been a disappointment as a whole, so the criticism is earned.

On the other side of the discussion is the SEC. The conference that is often discussed as a football juggernaut and basketball afterthought is making people rethink the equation.

In the latest AP Poll, the SEC has four ranked teams, led by No. 8 Kentucky. There were an additional four teams that received at least one vote, leaving eight bonafide NCAA Tournament contenders.

Vanderbilt is the only team with a losing record in the conference, while two of the league’s best teams – Florida and Alabama – already have three. The Wildcats are still rolling out freshmen who are learning on the fly, while Texas A&M looks like a serious Final Four contender.

The ACC has historically dominated the conversation about best basketball conferences. They are again this season, with Final Four contenders in Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, and North Carolina.

But the SEC looks to be on the rise for the first time in a decade. The league hasn’t sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament since 2008.

It looks like 2018 could be the year to put that drought to bed. Building stronger resumes before any possible conference cannibalization would help.