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Alabama leads new-look SEC with Calipari changing schools, Texas and Oklahoma along for the ride

FILE - John Calipari answers questions from reporters during a press conference after being introduced as Arkansas's NCAA college head basketball coach Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File)
FILE - John Calipari answers questions from reporters during a press conference after being introduced as Arkansas's NCAA college head basketball coach Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File) FILE - John Calipari answers questions from reporters during a press conference after being introduced as Arkansas's NCAA college head basketball coach Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File)

By JOHN ZENOR / AP Sports Writer 5 min read

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is the Southeastern Conference favorite in basketball, not football. John Calipari is leading a team with high expectations, just not at Kentucky.

And Texas and Oklahoma are along for the ride now, too. The SEC has matched its record with eight NCAA Tournament teams each of the past two years and has valid reasons to expect even more with the league now at 16 members.

It just has a different look.

No. 2 Alabama leads nine SEC teams in the preseason AP Top 25 after making the program’s first Final Four. Like most years lately, SEC coaches are confidently touting their league as tops in college basketball, not just football.

“We’re the best league in college basketball. We just are,” said Georgia coach Mike White, who thinks double-digit NCAA bids is possible. “The SEC is officially now the best league in college basketball.”