Is the SEC sinking back to the pack?

“The Southeastern Conference stands firmly as the nation's premier intercollegiate women's basketball conference,” the SEC Media notes inform us. “The league leads the nation with SEVEN national championships, TEN runner-up finishes, 32 Final Four appearances and 107 first-team All-America honors.”

In the past I have been accused of being a cheerleader for the SEC by those more closely associated with its neighboring rival Atlantic Coast Conference – and over the years, the Southeastern Conference has been the premier power conference with super teams at the top, good depth and star players who would go on to fine pro careers. Also, the league has been a leader in media exposure.

Some of that is still true today but despite what the SEC Media Notes might claim, not nearly so much as in the past.

Super teams? Check. Tennessee and LSU fill the bill as two past and possibly present legitimate Final Four candidates. Their matchup in Knoxville aside, going into the last slate of games, this duo has dominated the rest of the conference. No team has played the Lady Vols closer than Vanderbilt, losing by 13 in Nashville. The Tigers had but two close games, both at home. Kentucky lost by four and Georgia by six.

Premier power conference?The results are mixed. Against the ACC, the SEC is an amazing 12-4. Against the Big East the league is a respectable 6-5 and similarly against the Pacific-10, a similar 4-2. Now the warning signs: In checking shooting stats, foul shooting and three-point shooting of the top players in those categories, SEC standouts are inferior to their counterparts in the Big 12 (another conference that I cover) – and against the Big 12, the SEC is but 5-7. Against the mediocre Big Ten, I was floored to read a record of 2-9.

Through Feb. 15, league stats showed the SEC a combined 21-39 against Associated Press Top 25. Remove Tennessee (7-3) and LSU (5-2), the results are a chilling 9-34. All totaled, the SEC winning percentage is .733 against other leagues, which is very similar to recent years but most down from 1999-2000 when the league was at an eye-popping .833. Through Feb. 17, seven SEC teams still ranked within the NCAA RPI top 64. So all in all, the numbers say this is a down year – but maybe it not so much as one would think.

Star power?I assume most of you watched the amazing LSU comeback over Tennessee in mid February. If so, you watched all but a few that the SEC has to offer. Georgia has one (Tasha Humphrey); Auburn another (DeWanna Bonner). Aside from that duo, WNBA scouts are looking at SEC timber as bench and training camp material.

Over the years, I have been amazed at how successful the league as a whole has been to keep top players at home (the Deep South) and attract players from other regions. For many years, the league used its high level of competition as a recruiting tool to keep the talent coming. Another sales point is milder winters than you would get in most of the other BCS Conferences. But either the talent level dropped in the South, or more players are heading elsewhere, because the SEC didn’t have its usual star-power depth.

Exposure? The league has been a leader in televised games, and still does a good job in that area but the Big 12 may be pushing ahead. The Big 12 has games on more nights during the week, while the SEC concentrates their activities on Thursday and Sunday. Another interesting note on media exposure came to light on games on the Internet away that were not on television. Without proper checking, I purchased Georgia’s $9.95 per month Internet package, and I was surprised to see how little I got in the way of additional women’s basketball coverage.

The best deal on the Internet is the ACC Select package if you want to catch a game that is not on television. If you have Direct TV (it’s the best for following women’s hoops nationally), you can get the Big Ten Network, which is loaded with women’s basketball coverage. The problem here is that the Big Ten is not on national media (namely the ESPN’s and CSTV) as it once was so its national exposure may be less but regional exposure is up.) Conclusion: The SEC may be falling behind its rivals in use of television and Internet to expose its product.

Fans in the Arena? The SEC lives off the Tennessee Volunteers. The SEC Tournament will be held but a few miles from the Black and Gold of Vanderbilt University but nobody will be surprised to see the annual Sea of Orange engulf the Sommet Center, with Black/Gold a distant second in number. Attendance for home games has over the years improved for SEC members highlighted by any appearance of Tennessee. Still only the fans of the Orange and White travel in any serious numbers -- see SEC Tournament 2007 in Duluth Georgia for recent evidence.

Coaches on the hot seat? Two. Susan Walvius of South Carolina is having a bad year with overall tenor just above .500 (after many years). Stephany Smith of Alabama will finish last yet again in her third year after a fine stint at Middle Tennessee. Her squad is young but results this year included losses to eight non-BCS schools. If this was English soccer, the Tide would have long ago suffered relegation and been rolled into a conference with lesser competition.

Awards

Both Player of the Year and Coach of the Year could be argued either way. Sylvia Fowles would win POY in any other conference (although Oklahoma fans may argue for Courtney Paris).Van Chancellor took over a veteran, talented club assembled by another coach and tweaked things a little. He had enough sense not to mess anything up and won the conference with no losses (hard to do). Melanie Balcomb deserves praise for finishing above expectations after losing three starters to graduation at Vanderbilt.

The all-SEC first team is pretty stacked as all five are likely to have WNBA careers. The second team is solid be they not superstars. Interestingly, the first team picked here is identical to the preseason media selections. This may also be symptomatic of the various levels that existed in the conference this year. The all-freshman team further underlines the problem of this year’s SEC in that it fails to add much star power to the future of the league.

Player of the Year
Candace Parker, Tennessee

Honorable Mention
Sylvia Fowles, LSU

Coach of the Year
Van Chancellor, LSU

Honorable Mention
Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt

Freshman of the Year
Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee

First team
DeWanna Bonner, Auburn
Sylvia Fowles, LSU
Alexis Hornbuckle, Tennessee
Tasha Humphrey, Georgia
Candace Parker, Tennessee

Second team
Quianna Chaney, LSU
Marshae Dotson, Florida
Sherell Hobbs, Auburn
Christina Wirth, Vanderbilt
Erica White, LSU

All-freshman team
Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
Jordan Jones, South Carolina
Jence Rhoads, Vanderbilt
Alli Smalley, Auburn