re: Minnesota/Ohio State game how SEC basketball use to be...

You can make fun of my comments all you want but anyone older than 25 years old can remember a time when the SEC was an elite basketball conference by any measure. I don't know how old you are but you act as if you think the league has always been this crappy in basketball. It hasn't. The last 5 years in particular is far and away the worst this league has been top to bottom in my lifetime. Alabama went 12-4 in the SEC a couple of years ago and still didn't get into the NCAA tournament. That would have been unheard of 15 or 20 years ago.

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And I do mean it's Bama's fault. Like it or not nonBama fans, a lot in the conference goes the way Bama goes for the big time sports. And since Bamas basketball has faded, other schools haven't done much either to push their product

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Seriously??? In basketball??? when was the last time or even how many times have Bama been in the Final Four?????

I make fun of your comments because as I saw the other day you seem to think SEC bad = the state of basketball is bad, when that couldn't be farther from the truth.

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The last 5 years in particular is far and away the worst this league has been top to bottom in my lifetime.

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I agree.

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Alabama went 12-4 in the SEC a couple of years ago and still didn't get into the NCAA tournament. That would have been unheard of 15 or 20 years ago.

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Considering some of our OOC losses it wasn't that crazy we were left out. We were in the last 4 out group they release every year. That was when the conference still had divisional play and the West was awful. If we had won one more game in the SEC tournament we would have made it in.

You apparently weren't around during some of the epic Alabama/Arkansas games when Arkansas first joined the league. I remember Alabama giving Arkansas its first SEC loss when they traveled to Tuscaloosa in 1993. That Alabama team had Latrell Sprewell, Robert Horry, James Robinson, and David Benoit going against a stout Arkansas team that had Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, and the stud forward (not Corliss Williamson but the one before him)

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So, if GM is making good money on trucks, no sense in investing to make cars better.

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The fact that they are taking a loss on cars probably means they are trying some strategies to improve sales, but they'd probably rather just cut cars from their lineup, and focus strictly on trucks.

With the way the financial incentives are set up, I wonder if some SEC athletic departments would rather just eliminate basketball and focus more on football.

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If football is generating tons of money, and basketball is generating only a slight loss, then the university doesn't really have an incentive to improve the basketball team.

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The only problem with this logic is that it doesn't really cost much to improve a basketball team. There are ton's of mid majors out there that are better than a lot of SEC teams. I don't think it has anything to do with funds.

We seem to have a lot of schools that just can't quite figure out how to find the right head coach and they stick with the wrong one for way too long.

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LSUFOREVERAMEN

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Are you a baseball fan? You realize baseball is right around basketball when it comes to revenue producers in college. Last time I checked Alabama actually was taking a loss due to their baseball teams.

Doesn't Bama include student tickets to non-football events in the cost of attendance?

Maybe if they forced students to pay full price for each and every game, students would have the power of the price signal to influence the quality of their basketball team?

Think about. By handing out reduced priced tickets to Alabama students, the athletic department is basically writing their own checks. But if you forced students to buy their own tickets, and if students aren't impressed with the quality of the non-football athletics, they won't spend their money to attend.

Therefore, you create an incentive system for the athletic department to improve those sports.

Care: Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, LSU

No Care: Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi, Miss. State, South Carolina, A&M, Bama

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The athletic department doesn't really care if you show. They've already received your money. That's the problem, and the reason for why there's no incentive to improve these sports.

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There are enough non student fans out there that spend a lot more then students ever would. They are the ones that matter when it comes to attendance.