This is an opinion column.

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Bill Self, self-aware basketball coach, glanced down his bench on Tuesday night at the Marriott Center like he had been transported by aliens to a distant solar system.

“What am I doing here?” said the look on his face. “Someone please take me away from this place.”

Self is the coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, a main-line team that began the season ranked No.1 in the country. KU played at BYU on Tuesday and lost 91-57. The Jayhawks have dropped three of their last four games and are 3-7 away from Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas is one of college basketball’s hallowed blue bloods, but these days that doesn’t mean much anymore.

There is something happening in the sport of college basketball. There is movement underfoot, and trembling up in the hills and haunts and fieldhouses. The foundational powerhouses of college basketball are cracking and creaking.

The last thing college basketball fans in Alabama probably remember about the Jayhawks was the way the refs bailed them out last year against Samford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Teams like KU get the benefit of the doubt in March. It happens every year. In this new era of NIL paychecks, the mighty blue bloods are going to need all the help they can get. Look around. Kansas is collapsing. Kentucky is ranked ninth in the SEC standings. UNC, with an overall record of 16-11, might not make the NCAA Tournament.

What is going on, and is it good for the sport?

Like in college football, it all depends on who you’re asking.

I heard plenty of complaints about the NIL revolution during the fall, but everyone in the South has quieted down this winter. For Auburn and Alabama, things have never been better.

The basketball season taking place in the SEC is one of the biggest stories in sports this year. The SEC was once dominated by Kentucky. On the recruiting trail and on the court, everyone else was playing for second.

Remember when Alabama natives DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe both chose Kentucky? Elite players like Cousins and Bledsoe are not only choosing schools closer to home, but they’re now staying in school longer. The trend is elevating the sport for those who have the money.

At Auburn, center Johni Broome and guard Denver Jones have both been named national players of the week this season. At Alabama, Mobile native Labaron Philon chose the Tide over Kansas and looks like one of the best young players in the country.

Auburn and Alabama are both projected to be No.1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Maybe Self is right. Maybe we are living in an altered reality off in some far-flung dimension.

I’m not complaining. I’m just having a hard time believing it, too. I mean, technically, someone called all this back in 2020, but no one could have imagined the Tide and Tigers being the two best teams in the country and becoming the first one-two matchup in the history of SEC basketball.

The stars have aligned, and in the spirit of the late, great Bill Walton, I’m digging this new cosmic adventure.

The SEC could get as many as 13 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Auburn is ranked No.1 in the country. Alabama, which finally broke the Final Four barrier in 2024, is currently ranked No.4. Florida is No.2, Tennessee is No.6 and Texas A&M is No.7.

And the SEC, college football’s culture king, is now more entertaining than the NBA. All the players are getting paid, but they’re still playing defense.

There’s a Top 25 matchup every day in the SEC. On Tuesday, No.21 Mississippi State upset No.7 Texas A&M 70-54. Both teams are locks for the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, Alabama is finishing its season with seven straight games against ranked opponents. No.4 Alabama lost its second straight game on Wednesday. The 110-98 result against No.15 Missouri smelled a lot like the 94-85 loss to No.1 Auburn over the weekend. Is the grind of this season catching up to the Crimson Tide? On Saturday, once-mighty Kentucky is at Alabama (tipoff 5 p.m.) and it’s Big Blue that needs a signature victory to bolster its postseason résumé.

Beginning next Wednesday, Auburn finishes the season with games against four ranked opponents: vs. No.24 Ole Miss, at No.17 Kentucky, at No.7 Texas A&M and then home for the big finale against Alabama on March 8.

It will be the biggest basketball game in the history of Alabama, and then, AND THEN … the SEC tournament, which begins on March 12 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, will be one of the most competitive brackets in the history of collegiate athletics.

Call it the Land of Oz. Bill Self will probably still be scratching his head on Selection Sunday, but we already know the truth. The heart of college basketball isn’t in Kansas anymore.

BE HEARD

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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”