SEC vs. ACC: 5 Reasons the SEC was the better basketball conference in 2016-17

Should there be a new pecking order in college basketball?

This past year’s college football bowl season enforced that the ACC was the best conference on the gridiron. Clemson’s national championship victory over Alabama shattered the stereotype of SEC dominance, and changed the entire landscape of college football.

With the NCAA Tournament finally wrapping up, it raises the question — how do the two conferences stack up in basketball?

We’re only three days removed from North Carolina claiming its sixth national championship. While the Tar Heels made a historic run at the title, it’s hard to overlook the fact they were the lone ACC team to make the Sweet Sixteen.

Granted, its been five years since the SEC’s last championship in basketball, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t the best conference right now from top to bottom. The conference has shown dynamic strides over the past few years, and deserves to be proclaimed as a premier basketball league.

While the SEC and ACC met on the hardwood multiple times this year, the SEC dominated most of the field in March. It seems as if the physical play of the Southeastern Conference benefited each of its teams in the long run.

With that being said, here are five reasons the SEC could be the better of the two.

Tournament Performance

The ACC landed nine teams in the NCAA Tournament field this year. However, UNC was the only team left after two rounds of play. The SEC put five teams in the big dance, and three advanced all the way into the Elite Eight. Each conference was 2-2 against the other in tournament play, but UNC had both wins for the ACC. Keep in mind, both Arkansas and Kentucky took the Tar Heels down to the wire in March. The SEC’s wins came in the round of 32 when South Carolina defeated Duke, and Florida topped Virginia. The SEC might have even landed two teams in the Final Four if Florida and South Carolina weren’t forced to play each other in the Elite Eight.

When it comes to basketball, Kentucky is usually on a tier of their own in the SEC. It seems as if UNC took on that persona in the postseason this year, and the rest of the ACC couldn’t live up to the hype.

While the ACC had this year’s champion hidden in its midst, the SEC reared its uber competitive head. Any team could beat another at any given time. Tennessee showed us this when it beat Kentucky midway through the season. Missouri proved it by shocking Auburn in the first round of the SEC Tournament. South Carolina was on a mission to make the conference relevant again with their Cinderella run to the Final Four.