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Bill Self calls SEC 'hands-down' the best league in basketball

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs01/24/25grant_grubbs_
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© Evert Nelson

Bill Self is a Big 12 ambassador through and through but even he can’t deny the talent in the SEC this season. After Kansas‘ win over TCU on Wednesday, the Jayhawks’ head coach weighed in on the current state of the Big 12 while showering the SEC with some praise.

“The SEC has been the best league in the country this year hands-down,” Self said. “We hurt ourselves as a league by having some disappointing losses early. But, the SEC — last year, our league was thought to be close to what the SEC is this year. And it is cyclical, but I can’t believe it will ever leave that one or two best league in the country [territory] moving forward.”

As of this report, four of the top six teams in the AP Top 25 are SEC teams. Auburn leads the pack as the top-rated team in the country. However, there are nine ranked SEC teams, in total.

The SEC’s talent doesn’t disappear outside of the Top 25, either. In ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, he predicted the SEC to have a conference-high 12 teams make the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 had the third-most with eight teams.

The Jayhawks learned first-hand how talented the SEC is this season when they faced off against Missouri on Dec. 8. The Tigers marched into Allen Fieldhouse and handed Kansas a 76-67 defeat. For reference, Missouri finished last in the SEC last season.

Simply put, the SEC is nothing short of a gauntlet this season. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean the Big 12 is lacking talent.

“I think [the Big 12 is] great. I think it’s as good as it has been,” Bill Self said. “Losing Texas and Oklahoma is big, and I’m not going to downplay them at all because they were a big part of our league, but their brand was more football than basketball. I think everybody would agree with me on that.

“You lose two good programs. Arizona is a good add. Houston is a good add. Those are some good adds there that are nationally competitive, which I think takes our conference even to a different level.”

Houston is currently ranked No. 7 in the country and Arizona received 21 votes to be in the AP Top 25 this week. With any luck, the Big 12 will continue to be in the “best conference in the country” conversation for many years to come.