Mark Fox has some theories about SEC basketball

I've been pretty clear with my feelings on Coach Fox. I've also given him credit, particularly with how his team has played this season in the SEC. His in-game coaching has been very strong, and we've improved in a couple of key areas, notably how we handle coming out of timeouts.

However, this is just so tone deaf, I don't really know what to say:

"People are gonna pick on the SEC because they don't like us, because we wear them out in football," Fox said Friday. "That's the truth."

and

"We've dominated in football. And every league, our league included, deserves some criticism from time to time for how your league has played. But I think there's probably some truth to that. They're tired of us whoopin' them in football."

I'd say Georgia Tech, Davidson, and Temple would say it is the piss poor basketball we play. Same goes for Western Carolina, which we beat by two points thanks to Charlie Mann's heroics.

Maybe it is SC-Upstate, which beat South Carolina. Or Drexel, which beat Alabama. Or Butler, which beat Vandy. Or Northwestern State, which beat Auburn. Or Rhode Island, which beat LSU. Or Missouri State and North Texas, which beat Texas A&M. Or Utah State, UNLV, and TCU, which beat Mississippi State.

As you can see from that list, clearly there is total football envy.

Or it could be that SEC basketball is bad. Comically bad.

It would be one thing if you are doing some politicking to get into the NCAA, but if this is some posturing for pride or the NIT, we've gone into the theater of the absurd. He mentions North Carolina, which has lost to UAB, which was a bad loss. The Tar Heels also have out of conference wins over Richmond, Louisville, Michigan State, and Kentucky. Those are very good wins.

Coach Fox is right about something:

They call us a football league, but what have we won, four of the last eight basketball championships, something like that? This is a great athletic conference. This is a phenomenal athletic conference. The best athletic conference, I think. So people obviously take some shots at you when you're at the top.

Putting aside the wrong guess about the number of tittles (three, Florida's two and Kentucky's one), we are a football league. To the determent of other sports. Football is the cash cow of the conference, and the vast majority of the athletic departments and the conference view all those other sports as stuff to do between January and August.

And that is a shame.
TD

Now
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2014/02/21/2951782/fox-theyre-tired-of-us-whoopin.html#storylink=cpy

Tweet