What would that look like...New Arenas...High Profile Coaches...Better out of conf schedules? What do the schools need to do to "Get Serious" about basketball?

 

I think the coaching has been fine in the league, by-and-large. You have the issue of a number of really good basketball coaches that don't want to go to a football-dominant University, and that likely isn't going to change any time soon.

 

The scheduling has been an issue, to be sure (minus UK, hopefully that is understood in the rest of this post -- NOT UK). Half the league has non-conf SOS ranked outside the top 50. The entire league, combined, played 12 non-conference road games against NCAA Tourney teams. In general, their schedules are littered with regional directional schools filling their building for half-empty buy-games.

 

The biggest issue, I believe, are the internal cultures that put football first. That isn't an issue, since it is where the money is driven from, however, when your entire department (non SA) is football, football, football, it creates a second-class citizenship around your other revenue-generating sport. Administrators need to be more intentional about using football to help the other sports (Jeremy Foley was very good about making Spurrier meet with highly sought after hoops recruits to help Donovan), and pulling them into the fabric of the department, not letting them exist on an untouchable island. Some strong AD's can and do, others, aren't strong enough to be the boss, so the football coach / program does nothing to help raise the other sports.

 

Some of the issue is also that in a lot of cases, the fans just don't care all that much. I have had a lot of conversations with the Ole Miss AD on this topic, and sure, they'll turn out for "big games" "when the team is good", but if the team is average or worse, no one really cares. There is no passion for hoops in the SEC, so at some point many stop trying to force the issue, they lower the bar to be competitive, and they go back to focusing on new leather couches for the football recruits. I truly think many AD's / University Presidents in the SEC want to raise the profile of their league in terms of College Hoops, but they just can't or don't for many of the above reasons.

 

That is why, at the end of the day, Tranghese coming aboard is nice, but the change(s) need to be campus-level, and not league-level. You can legislate better programs unless you follow what the A-10 did many years ago (as a wake up call to Fordham) and you force the AD's to sign off on and be accountable for their non-conference scheduling. What South Carolina did this year, as an example, is downright embarrassing.

Some of the issue is also that in a lot of cases, the fans just don't care all that much.

^IMO this is the #1 reason.

 

Additionally even if football is getting all of the love, the average SEC school still has more money in their basketball budget than probably 85% of the teams in the NCAA.

 

If they want fans they need to build a better product. The recent hires of some quality HCs is a start and hopefully they will get a chance to build a program, even if they have growing pains. Out of Conf Scheduling is an issue, but when coaches are trying to get to that elusive 20 wins so they can hold onto their job year in and year out...you get some crappy schedules.

 

If most schools don't really care about basketball, then hold onto a coach for 4 or 5 years and give them a chance to get something going. Cal has ruined that for coaches the way he came into UK and hit the ground running...other SEC schools think they should get a 1 year turn around too.

 

But at the end of the day it comes back to SEC fans by in large don't care for basketball.

Additionally even if football is getting all of the love, the average SEC school still has more money in their basketball budget than probably 85% of the teams in the NCAA.

 

On this point, having worked in an Athletic Dept. at a fairly sizable institution, it matters a great deal when "everything" appears to be about one team, and everything else is by the way. They still have all the budget they need, but people have egos, and being 2nd fiddle (at best, in some cases with baseball, 3rd) is aggravating. From the EA to the Strength coach, it is Football, Football, Football, and everything else is background noise. It is tough to swallow for folks and it creates envy and bitterness. It is truly why Jeremy Foley is so good at what he does, and Tom Jurich (although I don't know him nearly as well), that they work closely with their coaches 1:1 (most AD's don't, they delegate to sport administrators) to ensure that they always feel important, loved, and that their SA's are just as important as the QB or the rush defensive end.