In the SEC, it just means more (fouls)

Ref-haters and anti-chargers, do I have some numbers for you... In light of the Kentucky-Missouri game earlier this week and the complaints about the officiating, spearheaded by Shannon T. Ref (who's looking a little veiny in the above photo), I decided to do some digging on the College Basketball Sports-Reference page with the goal of breaking down just how bad the foul-calling epidemic is in the SEC compared to other conferences. When I started searching around online for other articles of the type, I found a great analysis from last March written up in the Montgomery Advisor. Funny enough, the article was sparked by an Auburn-Kentucky game that UK won, but included 46 foul calls. From the 2020 season, here are some fouling stats by the conference that author Josh Vitale included:

Total fouls committed

• SEC — 7,746 (553 per 14 teams)
• ACC — 6,979 (465 per 15 teams)
• Big Ten — 6,466 (461 per 14 teams)
• Pac-12 — 5,968 (497 per 12 teams)
• Big East — 4,970 (497 per 10 teams)
• Big 12 — 4,864 (486 per 10 teams)

Fouls called per conference game

• SEC — 39.6
• Pac-12 — 35.4
• Big East — 34.8
• Big 12 — 34.2
• ACC — 33.8
• Big Ten — 33.1

Number of teams averaging 17 fouls per game

• SEC — 11
• Pac-12 — 7
• ACC — 6
• Big Ten — 5
• Big 12 — 5
• Big East — 5

Number of teams averaging 19 free throw attempts per game

• SEC — 14
• Pac-12 — 8
• ACC — 7
• Big Ten — 6
• Big East — 6
• Big 12 — 5

Number of teams ranked top-150 in free throw rate (FTR)

• SEC — 14
• Pac-12 — 8
• ACC — 5
• Big 12 — 5
• Big East — 4
• Big Ten — 4

Those are 2019-20 stats, but are you kidding me? Last season, the SEC called nearly 800 more fouls than the next highest Power 5 conference throughout the season. During intraconference play, SEC games were whistled for over four more fouls per game than the next closest power conference. Just a few other quick hitters from the above statistics:

• Every SEC team averaged 19 or more free throw attempts per game.
• Every SEC team was ranked in the top-150 in free throw rate.
• Throughout 2019-20, SEC teams were called, on average, for 88 more fouls than the next closest conference throughout the season.

Now, this season has been far whackier for obvious reasons, and using total foul numbers is impossible because of how much the cancellations have changed the number of games each team has played. However, if you look at the average fouls per game among the SEC, ACC, Big East, Big 12 and Big East this season (the Pac-12 is essentially a mid-major), here's how the numbers shake out so far, ahead of Saturday's slate of games: Editor's note: all statistics for the current season are updated as of the morning of Feb. 6. Fouls called per conference game

• SEC — 36.1
• Big 12 — 34.9
• Big Ten — 34.7
• Big East — 33.7
• ACC — 30.7

Number of teams ranked top-150 in free throw rate 

• SEC — 9
• Big Ten — 7
• ACC — 6
• Big 12 — 5
• Big East — 2

Number of teams averaging 19 fouls per game in conference play

• SEC — 5
• Big Ten — 1
• Big 12 — 1
• Big East — 0
• ACC — 0

Now, I'd love to add even more stats to illustrate the point, but with the craziness of scheduling this season, it was best to stick with mostly conference play numbers and a stat like free throw rate that measures fouls per 100 field goal attempts and does so regardless of how many games a team has played. So what do these numbers mean? Well, the SEC is actually down in foul-calling compared to its blistering 2020 season, but it still leads in fouls per game among major conferences by 1.2 – but that isn't a huge number, right? Actually, it still is. Over the course of hundreds of games played by all of these teams, even a one-foul difference is pretty significant. This year, only nine of 14 SEC teams appear in the top-150 in free-throw rate as opposed to all 14 last season. However, the SEC still leads among the important conferences. Another boggling stat: the SEC is the only conference of the five with more than one team fouling more than 19 times per game, and there are FIVE teams in the league that does, with Missouri leading the way as they're whistled for 21.8 a game. All of this to say... It is math. It is fact. The SEC calls more fouls than any other conference.  In a sample that includes hundreds and hundreds of games, over nearly two years, the differences in foul-calling by conference is incredibly significant.