Why Kim Mulkey, Dawn Staley are most likely SEC coaches to win more national titles | Adams

Alabama football was the surest thing in SEC sports until coach Nick Saban decided to retire and fix the sport – or at least, tell everybody else how to fix it.

The next surest thing in SEC sports is still a year away. Once the Oklahoma Sooners roll into the conference, more softball championships are sure to follow.

But for now, SEC women’s college basketball is the best bet to win multiple national titles over the next few years. You can see why Friday when frontrunners South Carolina and LSU join the conference tournament at Bon Secour Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

The strength of SEC sports is often measured by balance. The top-25 national rankings in softball and baseball are proof of that. Both are chock-full of SEC teams.

SEC women’s basketball isn’t like that. It’s top-heavy. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and LSU coach Kim Mulkey have made it that way.

Now that Saban is out of the picture, a Mount Rushmore of current coaches might include Staley, Mulkey, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, and Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin. All have won multiple national championships. Mulkey has won four – three at Baylor and one at LSU – while Staley, Smart and Corbin have won two each.

But if you had to bet on the current SEC coaches most likely to win multiple national championships in the next five years, Mulkey and Staley would be the overwhelming favorites. And that’s not just because of how they have distinguished themselves in the past.

As good as Georgia has become in football under Smart, the conference isn’t short on championship contenders in that sport. There are even more SEC programs capable of winning a national title in baseball.

Women’s basketball is different. No. 1 South Carolina and No. 9 LSU are in the top 10. No other SEC team is in the Top 25. Once Texas joins the SEC next season, it could challenge the Gamecocks and Tigers for supremacy. But who else could?

That doesn’t mean South Carolina and LSU will breeze through the SEC Tournament to the championship game. In fact, not winning the conference tournament would be a sign of bigger things ahead for South Carolina and LSU.

South Carolina was upset by Kentucky for the SEC Tournament championship in 2022. A few weeks later, the Gamecocks won the national title.

Last year, LSU blew a 17-point lead in losing to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. Then, it won six consecutive NCAA Tournament games and celebrated its first national championship.

No other SEC women’s basketball program comes close to South Carolina and LSU. And no other SEC women’s coach comes close to Mulkey and Staley. Even though there’s more parity in the sport overall, don’t expect the gap to narrow significantly in the SEC.

Mulkey and Staley not only lead the way in coaching. They have promoted as well as they have coached. They draw sellout crowds at home and even help fill up other arenas.

The more fans you have – and LSU and South Carolina have plenty – the greater chance you have for NIL contributors. You know what that means. Staley and Mulkey might not just be coaching at the SEC Tournament.

They also could be scouting − in case they need to fill a need when the transfer portal opens.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Kim Mulkey, Dawn Staley offer SEC best chance for more national titles