South Carolina's Martin is really drinking the SEC Kool-Aid
The SEC is coming off a down year by its basketball standards, but the conference is back on the upswing, according to South Carolina coach Frank Martin.
Martin, whose team didn't appear in the NCAA tournament last season, told ESPN's Jeff Goodman on Thursday that he's confident all 14 teams from the SEC will reach March Madness this time around.
Just talked to @FrankMartin_SC. Told me he thinks SEC is loaded this year. Optimistic that all 14 teams get in NCAA tourney.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) October 14, 2016
Last season, only three SEC squads made the 65-team tournament: Texas A&M went as a No. 3 seed, Kentucky entered seeded fourth, and Vanderbilt earned an 11-seed. None of them advanced past the Sweet 16.
Martin's extreme optimism was met with raised eyebrows throughout the Twittersphere, which led Goodman to offer somewhat of a clarification on the coach's comment:
On that last comment from Frank Martin thinking all 14 SEC teams will get in NCAA tourney, he was joking. I think. #sechomer
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) October 14, 2016
Martin's Gamecocks host Louisiana Tech to begin the season Nov. 11.
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