SEC coaches consider reform

SEC men’s basketball coaches discussed myriad divisional formats and conference tournament options Tuesday and will vote Wednesday whether or not to change the league structure for 2012 at the annual SEC meetings in Florida.

According to at least one source at the meeting, the coaches discussed keeping the status quo -- two East/West six-team divisions -- or going to one 12-team division.

The coaches also went over whether or not to re-seed the tournament 1 to 12 in a two-divisional format. They would obviously go to a 1-12 tournament setup if the SEC were to go to one division.

The East Division coaches weren’t thrilled with the conference tournament setup in 2011, when the second place team in the West (9-7 Mississippi State) got a bye in the tournament while Vanderbilt (9-7), the third-place team in the East, didn’t.

If the league went to one division the scheduling format would have to be addressed. The purpose of having one division would be to mix it up and not have a schedule in which the same six teams play each other twice and the other six just once. East teams have a stronger conference power rating. West teams lose out on power-rating points by playing the East teams only once.

The West failed to send a team to the NCAA tournament.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/31509/sec-coaches-consider-reform

Ben Gordon Josh Howard Jason Terry Jason Kidd Dirk Nowitzki Jerry Stackhouse