The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will continue to face Southeastern Conference opponents in men's basketball.
Other Southern Conference members may not have that opportunity.
In an effort to enhance its image in its second-biggest sport, the SEC is again looking to beef up nonconference scheduling efforts. League commissioner Greg Sankey announced this week at the league meetings in Destin, Fla., that each team's nonconference schedule for the upcoming season must have a three-year RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) average of 175 and that it must improve to 150 for the 2017-18 season.
"The SEC right now is really looking at why they are not getting more teams into the NCAA tournament," UTC head coach and former Florida assistant Matt McCall said Wednesday. "You've got Kentucky, and Florida had the 19 years when Billy (Donovan) was there, but why aren't there more teams getting in? Everyone across the country is looking at scheduling, because so much of an emphasis is put on RPI now.
"I understand what the league is trying to do, but I feel like they've been trying to do this the last two or three years and, at the end of the day, it hasn't helped that much."
Since expanding to 14 members in summer 2012, the SEC has produced just three NCAA tournament teams in the 68-team field three of the past four years. This past season, when Vanderbilt was routed by Wichita State in a "First Four" game, the league had only two of the final 64 teams for the first time since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 in 1985.
South Carolina set a program record with 24 regular-season victories in 2015-16, but a nonconference strength of schedule that ranked 300th nationally resulted in the Gamecocks instead heading to the NIT. Alabama had to settle for the NIT in 2011 despite a 12-4 conference record.
SEC associate commissioner Herb Vincent said Wednesday that the league will determine the three-year average of an opposing team by obtaining a team's RPI on the past three "Selection Sundays."
UTC had an RPI of 248 in 2014, which was Will Wade's first season as head coach, and an RPI of 114 in Wade's second year. McCall built upon Wade's foundation and guided the Mocs this past season to a 29-6 record and an impressive RPI of 50, so UTC has a three-year RPI average of 137.3.
Yet VMI (256), UNCG (283.3), Samford (290.7) and The Citadel (330.3) have three-year averages so unsightly that an SEC team would have to counter them with a program like Duke or Villanova to get the newly required balance.
"I think that can be said for any league, whether it's the Southern Conference, A-Sun or Big South," McCall said. "Teams that have struggled in those leagues will probably be avoided by the SEC."
Had this SEC rule been implemented two years ago, UTC would own a three-year RPI average of 282.3.
The Mocs went to Georgia last season and prevailed 92-90 in overtime, which marked the sixth consecutive year UTC has played an SEC foe and the 12th in the past 13 seasons. In 2016-17, UTC is scheduled to play at Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
McCall said playing SEC teams is great from a budget standpoint, but he wishes he could get more to come to McKenzie Arena, a challenge he admits just got tougher with that 29-6 mark.
As for the SEC, only time will tell if this latest scheduling attempt will reverse the league's recent fortunes in terms of minuscule NCAA tournament bids compared to the other "Power Five" conferences.
"It can't be just scheduling," Georgia coach Mark Fox told reporters in Destin. "The bottom teams in the league have to schedule games that they can win. They can schedule a bunch of hard games, but if they don't win any of them, it doesn't help us.
"Then when we play them, their RPI numbers hurt us. It can't be one size fits all."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.