John Calipari makes bold statement on SEC, takes preemptive shot at selection committee

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari firmly believes the SEC is the best conference in the country. Five teams from the conference rank inside of the top 25 in the NET rankings heading into Wednesday’s action, with Kentucky leading the way at No. 5. Only the Big Ten can say that as well.

Calipari went on a bit of a rant after the Ole Miss win on Tuesday, talking about how many teams the SEC should have in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. He said eight conference teams deserve to get in while also taking a preemptive shot at the selection committee about how the bracket will shake out.

“Again, I’m laughing,” Calipari said. “This is the best league in the country. Why aren’t we talking about eight teams of ours in? What I hope is they separate the top four of us and we’re all in the Final Four. My guess is, they’ll put us and another team in our league in the same region. They’ll put two of us and two of them so only two of you can advance. But if we’re all spread out, we could have four teams in. Why don’t we get eight teams in? Why are we not talking about other teams that are in the middle of the pack in our league? I think we should be getting eight teams in. I’ve said it. What the goal should be is eight.”

The four teams Calipari mentions are his own, Arkansas, Auburn, and Tennessee. They have all separated themselves from the rest of the pack and will have double byes at the upcoming SEC Tournament.

In the latest bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Razorbacks and the Tigers are the unlucky two out of the four, being placed in the same region. However, the two programs would not meet up with each other until the Elite Eight, with a potential Final Four bid on the line. Arkansas has won the only matchup between the two this season at Bud Walton Arena, 80-76.

Kentucky was only listed as a two-seed but will have a couple of more opportunities to move up to the one line.

They will finish the season with a road game against the Florida Gators and then the SEC Tournament will present itself with a few challenges. Possibly against one or two of the other three teams Calipari mentioned — which could be the difference between having a No. 1 or No. 2 next to your name.