For the first time in college basketball history, the Southeastern Conference has had fourteen out of sixteen members selected to compete in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. South Carolina and LSU are the only two left out. As a conference, the SEC has two one-seeds and about four to five programs with a legitimate chance at reaching the Final Four and winning a National Championship.

As the selections started to roll in, it became evident that the Southeastern Conference would shatter the record for teams selected to the NCAA Tournament. Five years ago, the SEC was near the bottom of the pecking order of college basketball, consistently struggling to earn two to three bids to the NCAA Tournament. However, under the leadership of Commissioner Sankey, the SEC has replaced the ACC and Big 10 as the best basketball conference in the country.

From dominating the non-conference slate to delivering the best conference product in the country, the Southeastern Conference not only got fourteen teams in, but the conference itself prepared its members for the grind of the NCAA Tournament. No conference in the country prepared its members better for success in March than the Southeastern Conference.

It all started with a non-conference push to schedule better games, turned to every school in the conference deeply investing in basketball from money vested in facility upgrades, NIL funding, coaches’ contracts, and much more, making the SEC deeper and better than any other conference in basketball. When you have a league where you’re weakest link is coached by a successful guy in Lamont Paris at South Carolina and Matt McMahon at LSU, headlined by John Calipari, Rick Barnes, Chris Beard, Mark Pope, and Chris Jans, among others, is a testament to the depth of the Southeastern Conference in basketball. For years, the SEC was a football or baseball league, but not anymore; the SEC has men’s basketball to go along with women’s basketball, football, baseball, and softball, among other sports.

All the action for the Southeastern Conference will get underway on Thursday afternoon, with more action coming your way on Friday.

Phone Credits- SEC on X