Sean Farnham, ESPN Insider 9y

Why the SEC will be a top league in 2015-16

Insider Men's College Basketball, Vanderbilt Commodores, Missouri Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Kentucky Wildcats, Florida Gators, Tennessee Volunteers, Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Georgia Bulldogs

Momentum is a funny thing. It can change in an instant, in a season or in a recruiting class. Perception is often more difficult to change, because what we hear or what we are told to think becomes our thought process.

It has been easy to fall back on the thinking that the SEC is weak, or a top-heavy basketball league, especially when Kentucky and Florida have posted back-to-back perfect runs in conference play the past two seasons.

For much of last season, the discussion was that the conference was down, with the perennial power Gators failing to meet the lofty preseason expectations, and because Kentucky was a dominant team like UF had been the year before.

The reality was that the SEC was improving -- improving its scheduling, RPI and, ultimately, its number of NCAA tournament bids. In 2013-14, the SEC sent only three teams to the NCAA tournament (yes, two made the Final Four and the other the Sweet 16). Last season, the SEC sent five teams to the tournament, and Texas A&M would have been the sixth were it not for a late-season swoon.

Instead of falling back on what's in the past, why not look at the present? It's not only at first glance that the SEC is trending in the right direction and poised for a strong 2015-16 season -- it's at a second and third glance, as well.

The pendulum has swung back in favor of the SEC. Here are a few reasons to expect a strong season for the league:

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