When Bruce Pearl arrived at Auburn in 2014, the Southeastern Conference wasn't exactly a hotbed for hoops. Back then, and even when he was at Tennessee from 2005-11, it was Kentucky, Florida and everyone else looking up.

Pearl was able to get the Volunteers into a competitive program, garnering a No. 1 ranking in February 2008.

Now, however, the SEC is loaded with this season arguably being the deepest and most talented the conference has ever been in its history. The rankings speak for themselves, as 10 of the 25 spots in the AP Top 25 are taken by member schools. Five teams are in the top 10 alone, including Auburn at No. 2 and Tennessee in the top spot.

So what changed to make the SEC so competitive? It all started at the top.

"Mike Slive really challenged his athletic directors, going, 'Look, this is an everything conference,'" Pearl said. "We're doing it in everything else.' It just means more established with the SEC Network on his watch, all those things. But then I think it was a real commitment by the conference office and the athletic directors in this league to go out and get the best coaches they can find."

Pearl's influence on the explosion of SEC basketball can certainly be felt throughout the conference. After Auburn made the splash hire of Pearl in 2014 and the Tigers started winning, other schools began to invest. Schools like Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas and others, where basketball played second fiddle to football for so long, started taking the sport seriously. As Pearl points out, all 16 teams have double-digit wins going into conference play, and whoever comes out as the regular-season champion will have to survive the most challenging slate in SEC history.

As the slogan goes, it does mean more, and with that, more teams in the NCAA Tournament. Back in the day, the SEC was happy to have six or seven teams represent it in March Madness. Now, it's double-digit teams or a bust of a season for the conference.

That success translates to filled arenas throughout the Southeast, a rare find 10 years ago.

"Last year we did not play — maybe with the exception of at Vanderbilt — I don't even know that we played a game that wasn't sold out," Pearl said.

And the reason, according to Pearl, is simple.

"In the last five years, nobody sent more guys to the NBA than the SEC," Pearl said. "Fans want to see great players, and that's what they're seeing with SEC basketball, our fans are turning out."

The road to an SEC title for Auburn begins on Saturday against Missouri in Neville Arena. There will be challenges, adversity, tough losses and incredible wins. This is not a one or two-team conference anymore.

SEC basketball has been on a meteoric rise in the last decade. This season, it will never be better.