Coaches believe SEC close to landing more tourney bids

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - When talking to SEC coaches, the list of reasons why the league hasn't had a bigger presence recently in the NCAA Tournament is long:

Weak scheduling. Backlash for football dominance. Poor recruiting. Coaching turnover.

Now, coaches say they've addressed all those hurdles but have one more to conquer - perception.

Only three teams reached the tournament in March for the third time in four years and even worse, only one team reached the regional semifinals. The dismal showing reinforced the idea the SEC just can't compete on the court as well as the league does on the football field.

Respect can earn more NCAA Tournament berths, and more tournament teams boost a conference's identity. SEC coaches have been working to toughen up scheduling, recruiting and play on the court, but Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said they're also fighting something else.

"It's not the perception. It's the reality," Pearl said Wednesday at the SEC Tipoff media days event. "The reality is that we have not been able to get enough teams into the NCAA Tournament."

This league has a pretty proud basketball tradition that doesn't hang completely on Kentucky.

The SEC earned six NCAA Tournament bids in 1987 when it was still a 10-team league. Since 1992, Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky have won at least one national title each, while LSU and Mississippi State reached a Final Four. Alabama and Tennessee have played in regional finals during that stretch with three others advancing to regional semifinals. The SEC sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament every year between 1999 and 2004.

But the reality of the SEC's tradition differs from the perception of its current state. Add it up and the numbers show the SEC hasn't earned as many as six NCAA bids in a year since 2008.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey took steps to correct this problem by hiring former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese as a special adviser on men's basketball and hired Dan Leibovitz as an associate commissioner. Tranghese attended the league's spring meeting in May in Florida, and Kentucky coach John Calipari said it's good for the league to have extra sets of eyes focused on men's basketball.

But Calipari defended the SEC, noting Kentucky and Florida played in the 2014 Final Four with Tennessee reaching a regional semifinal that same year. Texas A&M reached a regional semifinal last spring.

"A lot of this is the perception of it," Calipari said. "I don't know how you fight that."

South Carolina coach Frank Martin said having Tranghese and Leibovitz will help with how the league is perceived. A school-record 25 wins last season didn't help Martin's Gamecocks earn an NCAA berth in March.

Georgia coach Mark Fox would like to see the selection committee be more transparent about what teams should target. His Bulldogs hoped to pick up a top-50 win against South Carolina late last season only to be told a win would knock the Gamecocks out of the top 50 in the RPI.

"It can't be a moving target," Fox said.

Leibovitz has been reaching out to each SEC school to see what the league can do to support promoting programs on campus and recruiting. The league also is reaching out to event promoters pitching SEC teams and other leagues for possible matchups that can boost the RPI.