The Niagara University Basketball press release said it plain as day: "The Purple Eagles...will open the 2009-10 campaign...against Southeastern Conference (SEC) powerhouse Auburn...on Nov. 13."
If you are college basketball fan, you probably see the humor in that statement.
Wait, you don't see it? You don't see the hype that goes beyond laughable to anyone who understands college basketball outside of the Niagara Frontier and Western New York Region?
"against Southeastern Conference (SEC) powerhouse Auburn."
One esteemed and well known college basketball pundit had the best response when he saw this line tonight: Niagara is playing football now?
Niagara used to have a club football program that fell apart when a chlorine gas leak from the DuPont Corporation flowed over and into the stadium during a 1983 game. That was a long time ago.
What was written in this release is another example of a seemingly pompous attitude that has taken over the Niagara basketball program in the past 3-4 years, the same attitude that declared their victory over Big East weakling South Florida last year "an upset." Somehow, the school has got it into their heads that just because a school plays in a major (read BCS) conference, that school is by default a "powerhouse" and a victory over over that school an "upset."
(Disclaimer: I graduated from Niagara in 1984)
So perhaps it is time to set the record straight. The SEC is a college football powerhouse that is very deep in talent. This is not the case in basketball (please no flames).
But Auburn a SEC Basketball Powerhouse? Let's look at where Auburn has ranked in the SEC since the 1989-1990 season.
| Conference Wins | Conference Losses | |||||
| Kentucky | 252 | Auburn | 209 | |||
| Florida | 195 | Ole Miss | 204 | |||
| Alabama | 177 | Georgia | 189 | |||
| Mississippi State | 176 | Vanderbilt | 177 | |||
| Tennessee | 168 | LSU | 175 | |||
| LSU | 167 | Tennessee | 174 | |||
| Vanderbilt | 165 | South Carolina | 172 | |||
| Georgia | 153 | Mississippi State | 166 | |||
| Arkansas | 151 | Alabama | 158 | |||
| Ole Miss | 138 | Florida | 147 | |||
| Auburn | 133 | Arkansas | 137 | |||
| South Carolina | 116 | Kentucky | 90 | |||
| Overall Wins | Overall Losses | |||||
| Kentucky | 535 | Auburn | 298 | |||
| Florida | 442 | Ole Miss | 297 | |||
| Mississippi State | 401 | Georgia | 294 | |||
| Alabama | 400 | Tennessee | 280 | |||
| Vanderbilt | 393 | LSU | 272 | |||
| LSU | 375 | Vanderbilt | 271 | |||
| Arkansas | 368 | South Carolina | 266 | |||
| Tennessee | 368 | Alabama | 264 | |||
| Georgia | 348 | Mississippi State | 255 | |||
| Auburn | 340 | Florida | 240 | |||
| Ole Miss | 336 | Arkansas | 214 | |||
| South Carolina | 292 | Kentucky | 179 | |||
| Conference Winning Percentage | Overall Winning Percentage | |||||||
| Kentucky | 0.737 | Kentucky | 0.749 | |||||
| Florida | 0.57 | Florida | 0.648 | |||||
| Alabama | 0.528 | Arkansas | 0.632 | |||||
| Arkansas | 0.524 | Mississippi State | 0.611 | |||||
| Mississippi State | 0.515 | Alabama | 0.602 | |||||
| Tennessee | 0.491 | Vanderbilt | 0.592 | |||||
| LSU | 0.488 | LSU | 0.58 | |||||
| Vanderbilt | 0.482 | Tennessee | 0.568 | |||||
| Georgia | 0.447 | Georgia | 0.542 | |||||
| Ole Miss | 0.404 | Auburn | 0.533 | |||||
| South Carolina | 0.403 | Ole Miss | 0.531 | |||||
| Auburn | 0.389 | South Carolina | 0.523 | |||||
'nuf said?
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