Bad timing? Coaches’ opinions diverge on when to stage SEC/Big 12 Challenge

Thursday’s teleconference for Southeastern Conference coaches included a debate about the timing for this weekend’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari questioned the leagues staging the 10-game event in the middle of conference play. Of course, UK plays host to Kansas in the marquee game on Saturday.

Several of his coaching colleagues spoke of the Challenge providing a chance for the SEC to further raise its basketball profile nationally and its teams to pad NCAA Tournament resumes.

Why did Calipari say the timing is bad? “Because the league is good enough,” he said. “We don’t need something in the middle of our league that takes us away from league play to prove how good we are. Or how good we’re not.”

Calipari pointed out that lesser leagues that receive as few as one bid to the NCAA Tournament need something like the Challenge to make their resumes look better to the Selection Committee. He said he tried to schedule such games later in the season when he coached at UMass and Memphis.

“Because the league wasn’t giving us what we needed,” he said of those days a decade or two in the past. “So I played at Louisville when I was (at Memphis). . . . But this? I’m not so sure.”

Typically Challenge-like events are played in the pre-conference portion of the college basketball season. But South Carolina Coach Frank Martin cited a problem with the SEC/Big 12 Challenge moving to November or December.

“When at every SEC campus . . . all people want to talk about is football . . . ,” he said. “Late January gave us a window to really, really expose the depth of our conference.”

Kansas Coach Bill Self sounded ambivalent about the SEC/Big 12 Challenge being played during the conference season. Kansas has won or shared a record 14 straight Big 12 championships.

“It comes at a bad time of the season . . . ,” he said at a media availability Thursday in Lawrence, Kan. “Breaking up your conference season to do this, I don’t know of any coach (who) would say they are a huge fan of it.

“But it’s great exposure for our league. It’s great exposure for the SEC. And for one day, on (ESPN) ‘GameDay,’ we’ll actually be hearing about the Big 12 and all the schools in it, which is great for our league.”

Ranked and uninvited

Of course, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge will not be the vehicle for college basketball fans to hear about all the SEC schools.

Because there are only 10 teams in the Big 12, four SEC schools cannot participate each season. This year, the four SEC schools not invited to the party include three ranked teams: No. 16 Auburn, No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 25 LSU. Missouri also is not participating.

On Saturday, LSU plays at Missouri and Auburn at Mississippi State. Both games are on the SEC Network.

While saying the Challenge provides a chance for the SEC to put its “best foot forward,” LSU Coach Will Wade said “a lot of logistical issues” make that harder to do than someone might think.

Said Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl: “I think the league did everything they possibly could do to be fair.”

Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland saw how his team could benefit if the SEC won the Challenge.

“We’re obviously pulling for a 10-0 sweep, sitting where we are,” he said.

Making history

In leading Tennessee past Vanderbilt on Wednesday night, forward Grant Williams made history.

His 43 points were the most scored by a Tennessee player since Allan Houston scored 43 against LSU on Feb. 10, 1990.

And Williams’ 23-for-23 free-throw shooting was the second-best by a Division I player. Arlen Clark of Oklahoma State was 24-for-24 on March 7, 1959.

Told you so

With Tennessee an SEC-best 6-0 in league play, Howland reminded reporters that at SEC Media Day in October he picked the Vols as the favorite.

“I remember everybody questioning” the pick, Howland said. “I thought they’d be the best team going into the year because of experience and everybody back from a championship team.

“Our league is really, really good. You’ve got to look now and say Kentucky and Tennessee are the two best teams. And those will be interesting games down the road.”

Tennessee plays at Kentucky on Feb. 16, UK plays at Tennessee on March 2.

SEC/Big 12 Challenge

Saturday’s schedule

Noon: Alabama at Baylor

Noon: Florida at TCU

Noon: No. 24 Iowa State at No. 20 Mississippi

2 p.m.: South Carolina at Oklahoma State

2 p.m.: Texas at Georgia

2 p.m.: Kansas State at Texas A&M

4 p.m.: Vanderbilt at Oklahoma

4 p.m.: West Virginia at No. 1 Tennessee

6 p.m.: Arkansas at No. 14 Texas Tech

6 p.m.: No. 9 Kansas at No. 8 Kentucky