Buzz Williams on strength of SEC: ‘Worth as many words as you can give it’

Texas A&M managed to finish the SEC slate at 11-7, ending in the top half of the conference and locking up the No. 5 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament. For coach Buzz Williams, there’s a certain sense of appreciation that goes with it.

He’s done his homework. And to say the SEC was a unique challenge this season is underselling it.

“I know it’s become trite if you’re covering it, but if you’re living in it it’s probably worth as many words as you can give it,” Buzz Williams said. “Statistically, evidence says it’s the best league in the history of college basketball, and that started before any of us were alive. I think the exposure has brought a lot to that. I also think what the league did in the non-conference is what created the groundswell heading into conference play.”

How tight has the competition been in the SEC? Well, the saying anyone can win on any given night has often been born out.

It’s a meat-grinder. A couple swings one way or the other could make a huge difference in your season.

“I was doing some research two days ago within the league,” Buzz Williams said. “So after 17 games Texas A&M was 10-7. And today we were playing for a winning road record in the SEC. To me that’s pretty monumental considering the status of the league this year.

“So I was studying a lot of different numbers. How many points we had scored through 17 games and how many points the opponent had scored through 17 games. The differential was 1.2. And that just seems like a lot of data. I know by the time we go to bed tonight there will be 144 games played in the SEC, but specific to us, 17 games, nine of them have been at home, eight of them have been on the road, and the separator is 1.2 points.”

That research only made Buzz Williams more curious. So the SEC coach kept digging.

“I was a little caught off guard to be honest, that it was that thin of a margin, so I started doing it with everybody,” he said. “It’s remarkable how thin the line is between success and failure. And you know you kind of get caught up in some of the emotion at times, if you’re covering. Is it a home game, is it a road game, what did the AP say? Being respectful that’s really not the game that college basketball has become. And when you start looking at the analytics of the things that supposedly the committee pays attention to, it’s remarkable.”

It’s all been a learning experience for Buzz Williams and his squad. After all, according to him, nobody has ever played in a league this challenging before.

Finding ways to navigate that murderer’s row was key. And the Aggies did that quite well.

“Ten weeks of doing this requires your best,” Williams said. “And if you don’t figure out within each week how to change your best, you’re going to get left behind because it’s the best league in the world that’s not the NBA.”