re: Why does the SEC have a difficult time with bball?

Same thing for USC as well. Tons of talent in LA, but, they've haven't had much success.

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Only delusional LSU fans.

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Just because Florida's fanbase doesn't give 2 shits about baseball, doesn't mean other SEC schools have the same issue. Florida has been fortunate enough to have a great basketball program and a great coach in Billy Donovan.

If you look at SEC schools individually: LSU, Arkansas, and South Carolina have baseball teams that have out performed it's basketball teams consistently in recent years. It's not the case everywhere in the SEC, but some schools I think you could make arguments for baseball > basketball.

with ACC adding Louisville and Cuse, you can add 2 more teams to that elite list.

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i think it goes back to demographics and population. the population centers of the midwest/northeast could produce more football players if they could play year round. basketball can be, and is, and it's population is higher there

elite basketball requires super freaks

producing super freaks requires a very large population. they gots da people to do it

also, their higher like of basketball means more schools with history/facilities to attract recruits. those schools with that history pay more to maintain that history. we pay more for our FB coaches

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You do realize schools like KU recruit nationally, right? Here's their current roster.

1 Naadir Tharpe 5-11 Guard SO/1L Worcester, Mass./Brewster Academy [N.H.]
2 Rio Adams 6-3 Guard FR/HS Seattle, Wash./Rainier Beach HS
3 Andrew White III 6-6 Guard FR/HS Richmond, Va./Miller School
4 Justin Wesley 6-9 Forward RS JR/1L Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley HS/Lamar
5 Jeff Withey 7-0 Center SR/3L San Diego, Calif./Horizon HS
10 Evan Manning 6-3 Guard FR/HS Lawrence, Kan./Free State HS/New Hampton Prep
11 Tyler Self 6-2 Guard FR/HS Lawrence, Kan./Free State HS
15 Elijah Johnson 6-4 Guard SR/3L Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne HS
20 Niko Roberts 5-11 Guard JR/1L Huntington, N.Y./Saint Anthony's HS
21 Christian Garrett 6-3 Guard SO/1L Los Angeles, Calif./IMG Academy [Fla.]
23 Ben McLemore 6-5 Guard RS FR/HS St. Louis, Mo./Christian Life Center [Texas]
24 Travis Releford 6-6 Guard SR/3L Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege HS
31 Jamari Traylor 6-8 Forward RS FR/HS Chicago, Ill./IMG Academy [Fla.]
33 Landen Lucas 6-10 Forward FR/HS Portland, Ore./Westview HS
34 Perry Ellis 6-8 Forward FR/HS Wichita, Kan./Wichita Heights HS
40 Kevin Young 6-8 Forward SR/1L Perris, Calif./Perris HS/Loyola Marymount

KU is a perennial bball power for the same reason Kentuck is--tradition and institutional emphasis.

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quote: Not to mention some of the SEC schools put baseball in front of basketball.

you can believe this all day but it's not true

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Actually it's pretty accurate. I can guarantee you that +90% of OM fan prefer baseball to basketball (and our facilities can back that up)

The same could be said for LSU and probably several other SEC teams

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All of the big time athlete's focus on football from the beginning. Many play bball through HS, but very very few likely forego football scholly's to play college basketball.

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Basically the same reason why American soccer is meh compared to the rest of the world.

If you take away football as an athlete sink, we would dominate.

The problem is that college baseball is irrelevant in the national picture. Women's basketball gets more press nationally than baseball.

It's really dumb to put an emphasis on a sport that doesn't even give full scholarships to most of its players.

As soon as one lesser SEC basketball program becomes consistently good, its popularity will soar over baseball. Arkansas may have a swanky new baseball facility to spark interest in a good baseball team. If somehow the glory days of Nolan Richardson are resurrected in Fayetteville, people will flock back to basketball.

The Kansas fan who brought up national recruiting makes a good point. Blue chip one-and-done recruits don't care to play close to home. They want to go to a school that will garner them the most attention from NBA scouts and media outlets. Winning brings that notoriety.