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COLUMBIA, Mo. — As time was running out on Missouri men’s basketball season and the Drake Bulldogs were closing out their upset of the Tigers, a sizable chunk of the Wichita crowd started chanting, seven syllables at a time.

“O-ver-ra-ted, S-E-C,� they yelled as one of the Southeastern Conference’s record 14 teams to make the NCAA Tournament field fell in a first-round upset.

Should No. 6 seed Mizzou’s loss to No. 11 seed Drake be seen, by itself, as an indictment of the strength-based deference given to the SEC this season? Certainly not. But it’s a lot harder to chant “Mizzou was unprepared or unable to handle the stresses of Drake’s low-tempo system or exploit its advantages in the most critical game of the season� with a few thousand people around you.

And maybe the chant wasn’t wrong.

By now, if you’re a college basketball watcher or a reader of this news outlet, you’ve seen the consensus view that this season’s SEC was a very good basketball conference — probably the best in a long while, maybe ever. As a result, only two teams from the league missed out on March Madness. Texas and Oklahoma, which each lost 2/3 of their league games, made the 68-team field.

Of the 32 teams that advanced into the second round of the NCAA Tournament, eight represent the SEC. Six of the league’s teams lost their first games. Meanwhile, the Big Ten also has eight teams in the second round — all eight it sent to the tournament. The Big 12 has six in the second round, the Big East has three, the Mountain West and West Coast Conference each have two, and the Atlantic Coast Conference (oof), Missouri Valley Conference and Southland each have one.

Now, to be clear: Nobody is going to look back on this season and determine conference quality on how many teams each league sends to the Round of 32. The Sweet Sixteen, maybe, and the rounds after, sure. So it’s too early to decisively say the SEC has performed at, above or below its expected level.

It’s fair, however, to wonder if college basketball’s best conference will wind up underperforming.

Missouri coach Dennis Gates has been publicly pondering this possibility for some time. “I just hope our conference hasn’t and won’t beat each other up so much that we can’t perform in March,� he said before the Tigers went to the SEC Tournament.

Caleb Grill, a veteran player who was with Iowa State when the Big 12 was in the upper tier of conferences with seven March Madness bids, agreed with his coach.

“Regardless of how the SEC finishes up this season, I think it’s going to be tough for them because I played a part of the Big 12 when we were the best, and it was (a) similar situation,� Grill said. “We struggled in the postseason just because of all the beating up on each other. It’s just tough to do that for three months consecutively and still be able to perform at the levels that you’ve played at throughout the season.�

To help decide how the SEC is faring, here’s how its 14 teams performed in their first games:

No. 1 seed Auburn took care of business in a 20-point win over No. 16 seed Alabama State, then held off a lively No. 9 seed Creighton on Saturday

No. 1 seed Florida looked like the national title contender it is, blowing out No. 16 seed Norfolk State 95-69.

No. 2 seed Alabama got a little more than it bargained for out of No. 15 seed Robert Morris, though the Crimson Tide still won by nine.

No. 2 seed Tennessee seemed unfazed by No. 15 seed Wofford, then stifled No. 7 seed UCLA.

No. 3 seed Kentucky breezed past No. 14 seed Troy.

No. 4 seed Texas A&M scored 80 points, which is a lot for a Buzz Williams team, in dodging a trendy upset pick against No. 13 seed Yale. The Aggies then faded in a loss to No. 5 seed Michigan, the Big Ten champions.

You know this already, but No. 6 seed Mizzou looked inept in proving a lot of skeptics correct by falling to No. 11 seed Drake.

No. 6 seed Ole Miss prevailed against last-team-in No. 11 seed North Carolina.

No. 8 seed Mississippi State decided not to let its best player get the ball on its last possession and lost by three points to No. 9 seed Baylor.

No. 9 seed Georgia trailed 27-3 at one point in its 21-point loss to No. 8 seed Gonzaga.

No. 9 seed Oklahoma played No. 8 seed UConn close but imploded late to allow the two-time defending champions through.

No. 10 seed Arkansas continued its hot run of form by upsetting No. 7 Kansas, though the trajectories of those programs through the latter stages of the regular season don’t make it much of an upset. The Hogs then gave the SEC its banner result of the tournament so far, beating No. 2 St. John's in an instant classic between coaches John Calipari and Rick Pitino.

No. 10 seed Vanderbilt played No. 7 seed St. Mary’s close but couldn’t score on the last possession in a three-point defeat.

No. 11 seed Texas blew a 10-point lead to lose to fellow No. 11 seed Xavier in the First Four.

Again, it’ll take more than just that list to determine whether the SEC’s firepower amounts to a flop. But don’t be surprised if that’s where the college basketball discourse ends up — because it won’t surprise some of the people who played in it.

“It’s really tough because we played the best conference that’s ever been established in college basketball,� Grill said. “You go at it like that for two and a half months, just beating each other up, I mean, I’m not surprised that Gonzaga beat Georgia and Drake beat us — even though I wish I would be surprised. This is what they look forward to. They’re not going against the same level of competition throughout the season as we are.�