The Southeastern Conference has compiled some respectable conquests this season in men's basketball, with league teams knocking off Kansas State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Villanova.
Yet for every big win, there have been twice as many embarrassing defeats. Campbell, Coastal Carolina, Florida Atlantic, UNC-Asheville, Furman, Oakland, Nicholls State, North Texas and St. Peter's are among the teams that have feasted at the SEC's expense.
Entering Saturday's start to league play, the SEC has suffered 49 nonconference setbacks and is on track to its worst showing since the 1993-94 season.
"We've been upset by some lower-conference teams, so I don't know what to say about that," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "Fortunately the mid-majors haven't gotten [the Commodores] yet. Maybe our league just isn't as good. I hope that's not the case, but maybe that's the case."
The SEC had five or six representatives in every NCAA tournament from 1997 to 2008 before three teams went in 2009, when Mississippi State and Tennessee were bounced in the first round and LSU lost in the second. Last year was spent trying to earn back respect, and four teams received bids, with Kentucky and Tennessee reaching the Elite Eight.
According to Thursday's Ratings Percentage Index standings, only Kentucky (No. 5), Florida (No. 14) and Vanderbilt (No. 15) have accomplished enough to have them well within the NCAA tournament's early framework. UK's Wildcats and the Commodores are the only SEC teams ranked in the Associated Press poll, at 10th and 22nd.
"There have been some losses, but I think every league has that," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "I looked at the RPI the other day, and I don't think there was a Pac-10 team in the top 20, and I think there was only one team from the ACC. We had three teams in our division in there, so I think it's strong. I think this league has some teeth to it."
Kentucky (12-2), Vanderbilt (11-2) and Georgia (11-2) are the only SEC teams that haven't suffered any surprising losses. Yet while the Wildcats defeated Notre Dame and Washington and the Commodores beat North Carolina, Fox's Bulldogs do not have any wins over RPI top-50 teams.
In fact, eight of the 12 SEC teams don't have any top-50 wins, and Alabama, Arkansas, LSU and South Carolina have yet to defeat a top-100 team. Auburn defeated Florida State, currently 99th in the RPI, on Monday to improve to 7-7.
"I knew it was going to be a challenging season because of the youth and the inexperience," first-year Tigers coach Tony Barbee said. "Any coach would love to take over a team that won 30 games and had all five starters returning, but those jobs don't come open for some reason."
Kentucky annually schedules traditional powers such as Indiana, North Carolina and Louisville, but Florida and Tennessee have faced even tougher slates so far, according to the RPI. The Gators have knocked off Kansas State and Xavier and the Volunteers have defeated Pittsburgh, Villanova and Memphis, but they have faltered as well.
Florida lost at home to Jacksonville two days after upsetting Kansas State, while Tennessee has home losses to Oakland, Charlotte and Southern Cal.
"One of the things coming out of the spring meetings was for our league to upgrade our nonconference scheduling," Florida's Billy Donovan said. "There was a point in the middle of December when our RPI strength of schedule was No. 1 in the country, and right now we're in the top 10. All of our games have been relatively close, and we've played some good, quality teams."
Said Kentucky's John Calipari: "When you're talking wins over Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Villanova, Kansas State, Washington, North Carolina and Louisville, you're talking about a lot of good ones. This league is going to be fine. I still think we get five teams in, and maybe six."