No conference surpasses the SEC when it comes to bragging, and its combination of hubris and triumphs means no conference is laughed at more when it stumbles.

So, the SEC is nipped in the buds after five of its six NCAA Tournament qualifiers were knocked out in the first or second round.

LSU peaked in early December.

Alabama did the same, and the Crimson Tide also had to deal with an injury to star guard Jahvon Quinerly in their first-round loss of the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn peaked in January.

Kentucky was never the same after injuries to TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler in February, even though those players returned before March Madness.

Tennessee picked a bad day to cool down from 3 points.

But these are excuses, and no one wants to hear them.

Call it what it is, a massive bust for a conference that’s been bulging out its chest all season.

“We are the best league,” Kentucky coach John Calipari wrote on Twitter as he entered the SEC tournament, “and our teams deserve that respect!”

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Less than two weeks after that tweet, the Calipari Wildcats suffered the most embarrassing loss in program history, a first-round loss to 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s.

The Wildcats annual athletics revenue is approximately four times the reported college endowment for Saint Peter’s.

A league, huh?

At least the Kentucky star showed up. Wildcats big man Oscar Tshiebwe had 30 points and 16 rebounds, but his teammates offered insufficient support.

That’s more than Auburn can say. Its National Player of the Year nominee, Jabari Smith, performed a disappearing act in the second-round loss to Miami, and the Hurricanes played with more fire.

Frontcourt strength had been the backbone of Kentucky and Auburn, and we were reminded that guards usually run the NCAA tournament.

Three-point shooting and defense were Tennessee’s strengths, until they hid in a second-round loss to 11th-seeded Michigan.

SEC coaches, fans, talking heads and, yes, even this columnist, pounded the drum after the selection Sunday that the nominating committee snubbed Texas A&M from the tournament.

I suggested that Michigan should have been replaced by the Aggies.

Apparently the selection committee saw something in Michigan that most of us missed. The Vols faded into the bright lights, while the Wolverines relished the big stage.

Now it’s (spring) football time in Tennessee and the Plains, and it’s “Fire Cal!” season for Big Blue Nation.

A three-week knockout tournament is an imperfect measure of a basketball conference’s collective strength. Results throughout the season indicated that the SEC ranked among the top leagues in the nation.

But the teams are remembered for what happens during the NCAA Tournament, the sport’s only opportunity in the spotlight, instead of the other four months, when part of the public is watching.

The SEC’s only Sweet 16 qualifier, Arkansas, had its hands full as it knocked out 13th-seeded Vermont and 12th-seeded New Mexico State.

Other conferences may share in the misery of the SEC. The Big Ten with fanfare largely died out in the second round.

The Big 12 and ACC are the only conferences that have produced three Sweet 16 teams. The Pac-12, Big Ten and Big East have provided two each, while the SEC has joined the West Coast Conference, the American Athletic Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a.

These figures indicate the parity of the sport.

Any SEC fan worth their salt knows that this conference celebrates championships above all else. Criticism of the SEC’s average performance in bowling games last winter was overshadowed by the conference producing the two participants in the national championship game, an assurance that chants of “SEC!” SECOND!” crowned another season of football.

So the Razorbacks can apply balm to what has been an otherwise disastrous tournament for the SEC.

All Arkansas needs to do is beat No. 1 overall Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, then Duke or Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, then win two more games.

No sweating.

You don’t think the Razorbacks can do it?

Let me remind you that Arkansas just dropped 53 points to New Mexico State.

Good luck handling whatever SEC might, Gonzaga.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s cover, consider a digital subscription which will allow you to access all of this.