John Calipari touts SEC as best league, gives his vote on which teams should go dancing

Kentucky finished the regular season with a win Saturday, taking down Florida 71-63 in Gainesville.

With a win by Kentucky and a win by Tennessee over Arkansas, the Wildcats and Volunteers finished the season tied for second in the SEC. Auburn – with a win over South Carolina – took home the outright title.

It has been a remarkable season for the SEC, particularly at the top of the conference. Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee all went unbeaten at home this season, producing the first time the SEC had 3 teams finish undefeated at home since the 1950s. Add in Arkansas and the top 4 teams in the SEC went 35-1 at home.

That is a statistic that John Calipari brought up Saturday evening. Following the results of the day, Calipari touted the SEC as the best league in the country.

He also went so far as to say any SEC team that finishes 9-9 or better in league play deserves a bid to the NCAA Tournament:

Any team in the SEC that’s 9-9 should be in the NCAA Tournament.

The top four teams in our league went 35-1 at home. Crazy!

We are the best league and our teams deserve that respect!!

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 6, 2022

Based on Calipari’s criteria, that would mean Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina deserve tickets to the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M and Mississippi State are also in action Saturday night with the winning improving to 9-9.

While Calipari might believe 9 SEC teams are worthy of the Tournament, it is likely the league falls well below that mark. Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology featured 6 SEC teams in the field.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.