SEC hoop coaches remain underrated

You can't argue that the Southeastern Conference has more successful football coaches than any other conference in the country. Five of the league's coaches have won national titles, and a sixth -- Auburn's Tommy Tuberville -- coached his team to a 13-0 season in 2004.

SEC basketball coaches can't come close to matching that. But as a group, they're underrated.

In fact, half of the SEC men's basketball coaches -- at Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt -- would be more attractive on the open market than their football counterparts at the same schools.

Here's a school-by-school comparison of football vs. hoops coaches:

-- Alabama: No contest. Nick Saban is regarded as one of the best football coaches in the country. Basketball coach Mark Gottfried might be hard-pressed to keep his job.

-- Arkansas: Another "no contest." Bobby Petrino was successful enough at Louisville to be hired as the Atlanta Falcons, where he had a cup of coffee before taking the head-coaching at Arkansas. John Pelphrey might be a promising young basketball coach, but he's just getting started.

-- Auburn: Tuberville's name occasionally pops up in conjunction with other prominent college coaching jobs. Basketball coach Jeff Lebo's name popped up for jobs before he went to Auburn, where he is 18-40 in SEC play after three-plus seasons.

-- Florida: Never mind that football coach Urban Meyer has won a national championship. Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan has won two. Unlike Donovan, Meyer hasn't even been offered a pro head-coaching job, much less taken one.

-- Georgia: Football coach Mark Richt, who has never won fewer than eight games in seven seasons at Georgia, would be a hot item on the open market. Basketball coach Dennis Felton, who is 25-50 in SEC play, would have been a hot item on the open market before he signed up with the Bulldogs.

-- Kentucky: After reviving Kentucky football, Rich Brooks is on the verge of retirement. And although some fans were ready for basketball coach Billy Gillispie to retire after the embarrassing loss to Vanderbilt, he still would be more desirable on the open market.

-- LSU: Les Miles just won a national title in football. John Brady just got fired in the middle of basketball season.

-- Mississippi State: Football coach Sylvester Croom finally has begun to make progress in his first head-coaching job. But Rick Stansbury has taken the Bulldogs to four NCAA Tournaments in nine years.

-- Ole Miss: The Rebels made significant progress in football by replacing Ed Orgeron with Houston Nutt. But basketball coach Andy Kennedy was the SEC coach of the year last season in his first year on the job. It will be easier for the Rebels to keep Nutt than Kennedy, whose name is already being mentioned with the LSU opening.

-- South Carolina: Even though he's past 60, football coach Steve Spurrier would still have plenty of suitors if he left the Gamecocks. Basketball coach Dave Odom is retiring this season after a disappointing tenure.

-- Tennessee: Football coach Phillip Fulmer has had a successful 15-year run and won a national championship, but his best days are behind him. Conversely, Bruce Pearl is a fast-rising star on the basketball scene. Tennessee won't just have to fend off the college competition to keep Pearl. It also has to worry about the NBA, where Pearl's coaching and media appeal would make him so valuable.

-- Vanderbilt: Duke expressed interest in football coach Bobby Johnson after last season. But despite making progress at Vanderbilt, he has yet to have a winning season. Basketball coach Kevin Stallings made it to the Sweet 16 last season and is winning big again this year.

(Contact John Adams at adamsj@knews.com.)

(John Adams writes for The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)