It Doesn't Exactly Sound Like Coach K Is Pulling For SEC Teams In The NCAA Tournament

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Heading into the 2025 NCAA Tournament you have your typical storylines about potential upsets, favorites to make a run, who could be the breakout star, and so on and so forth, but there is one completely unique headline as the tournament tips off thanks to the SEC.

The SEC set a record by having 14 of its 16 teams earn spots in the 68-team field. Some folks find it egregious that nearly one-fifth of the field is made up of teams from one conference, while others lean on the metrics and see that the Southeastern Conference was undoubtedly the best conference in college basketball this season.

READ: Prepare Yourselves SEC Basketball Fans, The Media Is Ready To Pounce At The NCAA Tournament

Besides the fact that it is historic, the 14 SEC teams being selected have been talked about ad nauseam. The headline has been unavoidable, and it turns out that Mike Krzyzewski is focused in on it as well.

Coach K, who spent more than 40 seasons as the head coach at Duke, is "excited" to watch how the 14 SEC teams fare in their first-round matchups.

"I'm gonna be excited watching the record 14 SEC teams after one game," Krzyzewski said on his SiriusXM Podcast. "After two games—and I'm not knocking them—I just want to see if the metrics and the NET rankings, which put such a heavy emphasis on November and December games, hold."

It's Krzyzewski's clarification of "I'm not knocking them" that makes it sound as if he wouldn't exactly be upset if the SEC struggles out of the gates to begin the tournament. This is similar to the old ‘no offense, but’ tactic which is always delivered with a negative connotation.

It's hard to believe the 78-year-old Coach K is intrigued by how the computers fare in ranking these teams to see if those metrics held up that helped push 14 teams into the field. He's well aware that the only thing that matters is the result, not if the number crunching added up correctly.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.