NASHVILLE — When the SEC/Big East Invitational format was announced last year, I felt shortchanged.
Why limit the matches to four games each year? Why not give every team a shot every year like the Big Ten/ACC Challenge does?
That was my original argument. Now, I'm not sure it holds water.
Yes, the SEC got a sweep Tuesday night in the Sommet Center. Vanderbilt beat an awful South Florida team, 71-52. Then Tennessee toughed out a 80-68 win over Marquette.
You take your victories where you can get them, so SEC commissioner Mike Slive was all smiles. However, Tuesday night would be the exception, not the rule, if both leagues were playing with a full slate.
This particular installment got off to an underwhelming start. For the opening tip of Vanderbilt's game, there might have been 2,000 fans scattered around the arena.
The passion meter showed a flat line. It was so peaceful you could clearly hear Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings inquire of one of his freshmen, "Steve, where are you going?''
The buzz picked up considerably by the time Tennessee and Marquette hit the court. Still, the arena was only roughly half full, which the ESPN cameras may or may not have been able to disguise.
Just outside the Sommet Center door lay Broadway. But not that Broadway.
And there's one disconnect between these odd basketball bedfellows.
The Big East is Tavern on the Green. The SEC is Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.
Here's another difference: The Big East has eight teams ranked in the top 25. Five in the top 12!
The SEC has only Tennessee, slipping down the rankings to No. 16 this week.
And that's the most compelling reason a limited format behooves the SEC at the moment.
The other double-header is Thursday night in Cincinnati. I don't like Ole Miss' chances against No. 9 Louisville, nor Mississippi State's against Cincinnati and a hometown crowd.
The Big East went 3-1 in the inaugural event last year. South Carolina's overtime win over Providence avoided the sweep.
As the Top 25 indicates, this isn't the year the SEC wants a full measure of the Big East.
Alabama and Auburn have both lost at home to Mercer. South Carolina has lost to College of Charleston.
Kentucky has lost at home to VMI. Arkansas has lost to Missouri State.
Georgia has lost to Loyola-Chicago. Vanderbilt has lost at home to Illinois-Chicago.
Good thing there isn't an SEC/Horizon League Invitational.
LSU, the only unbeaten team, has played absolutely no one.
Marquee wins for the SEC are virtually non-existent. Tennessee's Nov. 28 win over Georgetown (in an unofficial SEC/Big East showdown) is the league's only victory over a ranked team this season.
Until Tuesday night, that is.
UT coach Bruce Pearl, ever the promoter, champions the event. So does his cross-state rival and colleague.
"I like it,'' Stallings said. "It puts us on a big stage.
"It'd be neat if it got to the point where each year more teams were involved.''
The teams involved in the first game have issues.
You won't recognize Vanderbilt from last year, save for center A.J. Ogilvy and guard Jermaine Beal.
South Florida, in fact, looked more familiar than the Commodores with all those SEC expatriates: head coach Stan Heath (Arkansas); assistant coaches Byron Samuels (Tennessee) and Reggie Hanson (Kentucky); starting guard Mike Mercer (Georgia).
The teams involved in the nightcap, Tennessee and Marquette, gave a better account of themselves - and of this event.
The Vols represented their league well against a good team from the best league in the country.
I'm not sure how many SEC teams could do the same.
Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strangem@knoxnews.com.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 25
reasonablevol writes:
ahead of the pack!
et_vol_fan writes:
I think the conference is heading in the right direction though.
Vawlfanpreandpost writes:
The right direction? You must mean that because the Vols have been the SEC's cream of the crop the last couple of years? Go VOLS!
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
why does this writer have to throw cold water on something which is good? If sports were any more boring than it already is, it would only rival the sportswriters covering it. Do these writers own this sports? Who does it belong to? Why can't this moron write something like that? These guys are strange.
HuntsVOLS writes:
Go VOLS!!! Big Weezy killed em!
1vavolfan writes:
This article is absolutely right on.If Mercer was in the SEC they would be 2-0.The SEC is 8th in RPI right now and is the weakest I have ever seen it.The scheduling outside of Tennessee's and Kentucky's is disgraceful.Take a look at who Billy Donovan and Trent Johnson scheduled out of conference.Nothing gets the fan base fired up like playing Tuskeegee or Nicholls State.
MrBamSeydu writes:
Mike, as much as I agree with your article, when has the SEC really been known as a powerhouse in basketball?
I mean, everyone considers it to be a "down" league or "down" year, but that's only because they don't have Kentucky to point to anymore as the cream of the crop.
In the '90s, you had Kentucky and Arkansas. Alabama had a few good seasons earlier this decade, and Florida won those back to back national championships. But you'd be pressed to find a 5-year span where the SEC was known was one of the premier basketball conferences.
I really think Tennessee and Florida are Top 20 teams this year. I also think by the end of the year, Kentucky will cracked the Top 25 at least once. They are better than a few bad losses, just like they were last year. You are spot on about LSU - they are not as good as their record indicates. And the rest of the SEC teams are average.
But I say this: You want to compare the SEC to the BIG East in basketball. Well, how about comparing the BIG East to the SEC in football? The SEC is known far and wide as the best conference for football year in and year out. Are we really supposed to be the best basketball conference, too?
Just because Kentucky has dropped off and basically been replaced by Tennessee and Florida as the two premier schools in the SEC, doesn't mean this year is any different than it's been for a long time.
Pablopeepants writes:
thanks debbie downer for the great article
BillVol writes:
So what? Who cares about SEC v Big East? All that matters is Tennessee.
murrayvol writes:
I'll settle for Tennessee heading in the right direction. The rest of the SEC can wait.
murrayvol writes:
You should feel right at home with these guys WeLove.
chbradshaw writes:
The SEC has won two out of the last three National Championships.
Tennessee came one Greg Oden block from going to the Final Four two years ago.
I will wait for the Big East to accomplish something before proclaiming their dominance over the SEC.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
MV, perchance that is a narrow-minded approach.
Can't you find some room in your heart for the Gators and Red Elephants and Bengals?
Maybe not.
daved writes:
BULL: Every conference in the NCAA fears the SEC that's a fact, where no joke.
daved writes:
sorry thinking football
grvol writes:
If the morons would sell single game tickets, more than twice the number would have shown up for each game. I personally would never pay to see Vandy play, except against TN. Many TN and Vandy fans feels the same.
lomas98 writes:
FL has won 2 of the last 3 and you have to go back to KY in 96 for the last one.
TN would have played in the elite 8 if Oden didn't block and if the shot would have gone down.
Right now the Big East does have better teams than the SEC. Only TN and FL could compete with Louisville, Pitt, Georgetown, UConn, Notre Dame
ncvol writes:
"The Vols represented their league well against a good team from the best league in the country."
I was beginning to think - why am I reading this? Finally at the end of this article by Mr.Strange came a ray of sunshine and ended on a positive note for our Vols.
Personally, I feel the SEC could hold their own with the Big East. Go Vols!
TurboFan writes:
IMHO: Tennessee stood a better chance of making it to the E8 if Pearl had called a TO instead of letting Ramar take it all the way.
rockytopatl writes:
Why do you even bother to read a newspaper? Good fans aren't professional cheerleaders and neither are journalists. The column was on-target and interesting. Yeah, celebrate the SEC's current mediocrity if you want. I'd rather be discussing why it isn't the best hoop conference in the country and what should be done to make it better.
In other words, get your homer head out of the sand. And lay off calling intelligent commentators morons. It only shows your lack of intelligence and insight.
CheckerboardPhilosopher writes:
This UT team is frustratingly fine
http://3rdsaturdayinblogtober.wordpre...
Agent_Orange writes:
Strange is truther than fiction.
murrayvol writes:
Good read and on target.
pj_volnindy writes:
That has to be the most hilarious pic of Bruce yet.
hewwheel writes:
I won't say the SEC is better than the Big East, but why is the Big East so overrated? They consistently lose to loer ranked teams in the tourny, while the SEC rises up and beats higher ranked teams (other than Tennessee). The SEC ha won more national titles over the past 5, 10, 15, or 20 years than any other conference, while the Big East has one championship. The SEC doesn't just dominate on the national level in football. The better article may be why is the SEC conistently underrated in basketball.
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