Ben Howland gives SEC, MSU basketball credibility

STARKVILLE – The Southeastern Conference infused 32 NCAA Tournament bids into its overall basketball coaching resume in the offseason.

Ben Howland owns 10 of those appearances in his first season at Mississippi State, including three trips to the Final Four. Rick Barnes led teams to the big dance 22 times before accepting the head coaching position at Tennessee.

Alabama with Avery Johnson and Florida with Michael White also have new faces running their programs.

"It's exciting to be coming in with a great group of coaches like those three," Howland said. "There's already a great group here."

Two years ago, the SEC received three bids to the 2013 NCAA Tournament. It was the fewest of any Power 5 conference. The Atlantic 10 and Mountain West each received five.

The league countered by requiring teams to submit their non-conference schedules for approval in order to improve RPI. Then-SEC commissioner Mike Slive also asked teams to invest in basketball.

Last March, the SEC sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament. The league also built on its high profile coaching hire from 2014 when Auburn hired Bruce Pearl.

"It makes a statement that our league has continued to really step up and upgrade from a standpoint of the coaches and programs and want to be one of the best conferences in the country," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "It's amazing the turnover."

Tennessee is the only SEC program with a new coach this season that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year. Florida played in the tourney in 2014.

The drought is longer in Tuscaloosa and Starkville. The Crimson Tide last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

MSU hasn't gone dancing since 2009.

Fans expect that to change soon. The Bulldogs' rivals agree.

"He's done a tremendous job throughout his career and I'm sure he'll do the same at Mississippi State," Ole Miss coach Andy Kenendy said. "I think it's certainly enhanced the profile of SEC basketball, which is obviously a good thing for our league."

Howland brings three Final Four appearances from his time at UCLA. Only six active coaches have more: Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and John Calipari.

The heavyweight names go along with powerhouse programs: Duke, Michigan State, Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse and Kentucky. Pitino and Williams have each taken two schools to the Final Four while Calipari has led three, including Memphis and Massachusetts.

Calipari and Boeheim have coached in four Final Fours, then Howland's next with three.

"I think it's a great statement about SEC basketball," Anderson said. "We're serious about basketball in the SEC."

The renovation of the SEC's basketball reputation isn't finished. But the new faces within the league, led by Howland, gave the project credibility.

"We have some of the best coaches in the country in the SEC," Howland said.

Contact Michael Bonner at mbonner@gannett.com. Follow @MikeBBonner on Twitter.