John Calipari evaluates strength of SEC this season

The SEC was a completely different landscape when John Calipari took the Kentucky head coaching job in 2009. The Wildcats used to walk through their conference scedule on their way to being a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not the case anymore, as the Wildcats haven’t won the conference outright since 2020, and the conference tournament since 2018. The SEC has been arguably the deepest conference in the NCAA over the past couple of seasons — something Calipari has been telling everyone for a long time.

“I made this statement probably — well, I’ve made it for years. They asked me, What’s happened in basketball in the SEC? I’ve said that basketball coaches win games, and administrations win championships,” Calipari said during SEC Media Days. “What’s happened here [in the SEC], is all these schools have invested in men’s basketball and women’s basketball. They’ve invested in facilities. They’ve invested in arenas, coaches’ salaries, recruiting, all the stuff that you need to be good.

“I’ve been a benefactor when I was at UMass, Memphis and [Kentucky]. We all know the commitment and what basketball means to the state of Kentucky. I’ve been a benefactor. Jimmy Dykes said there were two or three teams when you first got in the league, now there’s 9, 10, or 11. I said, yeah, because the schools are committed to it.”

Over the past few seasons, teams like Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas A&M have had even better seasons than Kentucky over the past few seasons. Now, the Wildcats aren’t even predicted to win the SEC this season and are ranked the lowest that they’ve been in the preseason AP poll (No. 16) in Calipari’s 14 seasons.

“It makes every game a hard game. I mean, arenas are packed,” Calipari continued. “Players are getting drafted. It’s not just our players. Now you have other schools having draft picks. It’s an exciting time in the SEC.”

Add in the fact that Kentucky faces the likes of No. 1 Kansas, No. 13 Miami and No. 19 North Carolina all before conference play, and the Wildcats are facing an uphill battle in the loaded SEC.

Of course, Calipari welcomes a few key transfers and the No. 1 overall recruiting class to Lexington this season. He’s hoping this will be the group that returns Kentucky to national prominence after several consecutive seasons of not being anywhere near the top of the national rankings.

Kentucky tips off its 2023-24 college basketball season on Nov. 6 against New Mexico State inside Rupp Arena.