Seth Greenberg explains why SEC basketball is ahead of the ACC

In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, the SEC has six bids to the NCAA Tournament while the ACC has four. It seems like the SEC has the upper hand this year — and ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg explained why on Saturday’s edition of College GameDay.

Greenberg pointed to the KenPom ratings to prove his point. Two years ago, the ACC ranked No. 4 in the country and No. 5 last year. So far this year, the league is the No. 6 conference in the nation. In that same time, the SEC has come in at No. 6, No. 4 and, this year, No. 2 in the KenPom ratings.

He also argued the SEC is better equipped to handle the recent changes in the college basketball landscape, specifically immediate eligibility for transfers and the emergence of NIL in recruiting. While Duke and North Carolina will likely continue to lead the way, Greenberg said the rest of the league has to keep pace going forward.

“Duke and Carolina are always going to be Duke and Carolina,” Greenberg said. “But the rest of the ACC has got to catch up. Remember, we have a change of landscape in college basketball. Give you an example. Last three years, KenPom … the ACC’s been rated the fourth, fifth and today, the sixth-best conference in college basketball. You say, ‘How could that happen?’ Well, it comes down to recruiting. Over the last six years, the ACC and the SEC, the SEC has twice as many top-50 recruits as the ACC.

“When you talk about the transfer portal where players are eligible immediately, the SEC, the Big 12, did a great job mining the transfer portal. The ACC not so much. And then, finally, NIL — and this is a reality. Whether you like these things or not, this is a reality. Jimbo Fisher said it best. He said that the SEC has had NIL forever, it’s just legal now. So they have mechanisms in place to deal with name, image and likeness, which impacts recruiting. Right now, the ACC’s at a crossroads.”

The ACC and SEC on the recruiting trail

For this year’s recruiting class, Duke has the No. 1 class, according to the On3 Consensus Team Rankings. North Carolina is the next ACC team in the rankings at No. 16, and Virginia is right behind at No. 18.

Five SEC teams — Kentucky (No. 2), Arkansas (No. 6), Alabama (No. 7), LSU (No. 9) and Auburn (No. 10) — come between Duke and North Carolina. That shows how hard the SEC has been hitting the recruiting trail, and appears to back up Greenberg’s point.

The ACC is going to look much different next year after Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski retires. In fact, College GameDay host Rece Davis said it’ll be the first time in 61 years the Duke-North Carolina rivalry won’t feature Dean Smith, Roy Williams or Krzyzewski.