Most of the NCAA Tournament talk has been dominated by whether or not Memphis should receive a #1 seed over UCONN. Yesterday we received the news that UCONN was rewarded for playing in the Big East Conference with a #1 seed and Memphis received a #2 seed despite having a better record (31-3 compared to 27-4). This happened mainly because Memphis plays in lowly Conference USA. Memphis has dominated this conference the last 3-4 years and haven't lost a conference game since March 2, 2006 when they lost to UAB. Given this dominance, I think it's time that Memphis started looking for a new conference to play college basketball in. It is clear that Conference USA is not as respected among tournament officials as the bigger conferences, and rightly so. Now, had Memphis finished the season with a 29-5 record and played in a stronger conference they probably would have gotten a #1 seed.With that said, I think Memphis would be a perfect addition to the struggling SEC Conference. The SEC only managed to get 3 teams into the tournament this year with none of them receiving a seed higher than #8, and if it weren't for Mississippi St. stealing a bid, it would have only been two teams. This conference has been struggling in recent years and could use a team like Memphis to bolster its reputation. The only other conference Memphis might be able to fit into is the ACC, but that conference is already strong enough. I think there comes a time when a team gets too big for its conference and that time has come for Memphis and Conference USA.
I know this would make an odd number of teams in the SEC, so maybe they could also add a team like UAB. To replace these teams, Conference USA could add a few solid mid-major teams like Northern Iowa or Siena who have been fairly successful in recent years or maybe even Davidson. In the past, Conference USA has proven to be a launching ground for schools to move on to bigger and better conferences (Cincinnati, Marquette, South Florida, Depaul, and Louisville). I think its time we end these debates over the strength of schedule that Memphis plays by putting them in a stronger conference where they are tested every night. Memphis already recruits some of the best high school talent in the country(Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Xavier Henry and DeMarcus Cousins) so they should have no trouble competing in a conference like the SEC. This addition might also give teams like Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida a well-needed jolt to their system so they don't become too relaxed. This would be a good move for both the SEC and the Memphis Tigers.
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2 comments:
Having lived in Memphis most of my life, I agree with your thoughts, but don't see them happening. It's not so much about basketball as it is football.
If Memphis had a truly sound football program, they would have been in the SEC a long time ago.
It's a natural geographical fit. Memphis would give the SEC its largest population of any member team and one of the largest TV markets to boot.
But football is king in the SEC and Memphis' lack of facilities have prevented them from becoming members.
All that said, I don't Calipari would want to get out of C-USA. He can play a strong non-conference schedule, win the conference and get a high seed every year. Why risk giving that up to play in the SEC?
I know it's a long shot, but some of the teams that moved to the Big East from Conference USA did not have football programs, so it's possible that Memphis could remain in Conference USA for football but play basketball in the SEC. Notre Dame plays basketball in the Big East and is independant for football, Villanova is IAA for football so it's doable.
I also agree that it would be risky for Caliperi but it might help him gain some respect. The SEC also isn't the strongest basketball conference so it wouldn't be like them moving into the Big East or ACC.
I know it's a long shot but it's just something I'd like to see.
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