ESPN college broadcaster Karl Ravech has been getting torched on social media for a recent gaffe in which he seemed genuinely shocked that the powerhouse SEC was .500 in league play.
Of course, in conference play, there must be a loss for every win, so mathematics demands that every league is .500 overall.
Now the league’s coaches are getting in on the fun, too.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope was asked Thursday by Jacob Polacheck of Kentucky Sports Report about the conference’s .500 league record.
“I feel like we’re not living up to the expectations, just being at .500 in the conference,” Pope said with a smile.
Pope added that it was “embarrassing” and joked, “We’ll find a way. I believe in this league. I think we definitely have an upside and we’re going to work really hard to get there.”
While broadcasting Tuesday’s Alabama vs. Texas game, Ravech seemed genuinely baffled that the powerhouse SEC — which features the Top 3 teams in the AP Poll and 4 of the top 5 — was .500 since Jan. 4 when league play began.
“We know how dominant they were in the non-conference part of the season, the SEC,” Ravech said on Tuesday during the game. “They were 185-23. Since January 4, into Tuesday, the SEC teams are 82-82. It’s not as if one team or two teams or three — they’re 82-82. There’s been no ability pull away, there’s no dominant group of teams.”
Instead of admitting he made a mistake, Ravech initially doubled-down on social media by coming up with this doozy of an explanation.
“Just landed and see X is on fire,” he wrote. “Simple explanation. Tongue-in-cheek 82-82 record was to illustrate any night either team can win and one will. Clearly very poor execution on my part. It is amazing that Alabama/Auburn have only lost once in such a great conference. That’s all”
To his credit, he later “took the L” on social media.
“4 hours after landing, and reading all of the responses,” he wrote. “It is overwhelming. I will heed the advice of my X friends and take the “L.” My bad, my mistake. Always appreciate the feedback and grateful for the audience. A bunch of huge games left, let’s enjoy them.”
As for the SEC, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects the league to get 14 teams into the Field of 68 — which would be 21% of the field.
The record is 11 teams by the Big East in 2011.
The SEC is also trending toward having three No. 1 seeds in Auburn, Alabama and Florida with the potential of three Final Four teams. No. 1 Auburn visits No. 2 Alabama on Saturday in the first ever SEC matchup of the nation’s top two teams.
The Big East in 1985 was the last conference to have three teams in the Final Four.
But for as loaded as the SEC is, it’s a safe bet the league will go .500 the rest of the way.
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Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.
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