Chris Beard reveals what sets SEC apart from other basketball conferences

Chris Beard believed it before the 2024-25 season even tipped off, and now the second-year Ole Miss coach’s preseason prediction that the SEC could be college basketball’s premier is proving prophetic.

After seven seasons in the Big 12 at both Texas Tech and Texas — before Longhorns formally joined the SEC — Beard knows the best basketball in the country resides within the SEC footprint.

Following Saturday’s 90-71 loss to No. 5 Florida in the regular-season finale for both programs, Beard went into detail about why he’s now so high on his newfound home league — beginning with the SEC’s dedication to remaining competitive in the NIL landscape.

“Yeah, at Media Day I said this has a chance to be one of the best leagues in college basketball, just like I said when I was in the Big 12 and like they’re saying in the Big East,” Beard recalled Saturday. “I think the SEC’s commitment to being active in the name, image and likeness (NIL) game, … I think the (SEC) kept the best players in the league and the league was very effective in both high school recruiting and portal recruiting. So college basketball starts with just really good rosters on SEC teams.”

Of course, the SEC then made their case in non-conference play, dominating the opposing leagues with a combined 185-23 (.889) non-conference record with eye-popping 18-point margin of victory that ranks second all-time behind the ACC’s 18.2-point MOV during the 1996-97 season, according to famed basketball statistian Ken Pomeroy.

“Then the talk has to be proven. I thought it was a record non-conference success rate for all the teams in our league, Ole Miss included,” Beard said. “We contributed, beat a good BYU team on a neutral floor, we beat Louisville on their home floor. We had some nice wins, (beat) a Colorado State team that I think will be in the NCAA Tournament. … Obviously, everyone in the league did a good job.”

Once conference play began, “it’s just been a bloodbath” according to Beard, as the have and have-nots in the SEC began to really separate themselves. The Rebels (21-9, 10-7 SEC) began conference play with four straight wins, including knocking off No. 6 Alabama on the road on Jan. 14, and upsetting No. 4 Tennessee at home last week, but also experienced a pair of season sweeps at the hands of No. 1 Auburn and No. 15 Mississippi State.

Now, after earning the league’s No. 8 seed and the final first-round bye of this week’s SEC Tournament from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Beard and Ole Miss ready to play the winner of Wednesday’s opening round game between No. 9 seeded Arkansas and 16-seeded South Carolina at 1 pm ET, Thursday.

“Fans think the world’s falling apart, but those of us in the arena playing and coaching understand, and you have to get yourself up,” Bead concluded. “That’ll be the challenge and opportunity for our team. We just took a pretty good licking by one of the best teams in the country, so we have to have short-term memory and get fired up to play in Nashville.”