Look Away SEC Fans, You Don’t Want to See This List of 50 Best College Basketball Coaches

There's no denying that the Southeastern Conference hasn't been on par with the other major conferences in college basketball for nearly half a decade. Outside of Florida and Kentucky, no other team has consistently been an NCAA Tournament participant.

With as good as the SEC has been in practically every other sport, why has there been such a struggle to gain footing in basketball. There's plenty of debate on our station and other outlets of the importance of players versus coaches.

While we're not here to settle that discussion, perhaps we can add another argument to the mix. ESPN.com is counting down the 50 best coaches in college basketball, and while the countdown hasn't rolled out its top 10 at this point, we have more than enough information to understand how the conference's coaches are perceived.

With Jim Boeheim checking in at No. 12, it's clear that only two SEC coaches could be ahead of him: Florida's Billy Donovan and Kentucky's John Calipari. So, where do the other 12 coaches rank? No where in the top 50.

In fact, ESPN even added an additional 25 coaches that were considered for the list. Only Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings and Auburn's Bruce Pearl get an honorable mention. That leaves 10 other coaches in the conference for the 2014-15 season that aren't considered top 75 in their profession.

Sure, it's only the opinion of a small group of analysts, former players and former coaches at one sports network, but it's an opinion that carries a ton of weight. You better believe that high school players are listening to what's being said.

These rankings likely were completely different three years ago and could shift dramatically over the next three years. But when you start discussing the here and now, the SEC isn't in the conversation.

That's why next season is extremely important for over half of the coaches in the league. For the league to be considered premier, it begins with changing the perception of the coaches that lead each program.