[More Cowbell]

But UK is in the SEC!!!! That should get a boatload of recruits to play vs Florida, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, SCar, et al.

This is where you're wrong. The elite recruits don't want to come to the SEC and play AGAINST Florida, Alabama, LSU, etc. They want to come to the SEC to play FOR those teams. Big difference.

I don't think being in the SEC helps recruiting much at all. I know sometimes you hear recruits say that, but I don't believe that's actually why they are interested in Kentucky in the first place.

In the end, recruits have a choice between going to a school where FOOTBALL is king, vs. going to a school where BASKETBALL is king. The reason why UK will never be able to be a major player in the SEC, is the same reason why schools like LSU and Alabama will never be able to sustain any kind of long-term success in basketball either.