Southeastern Conference

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Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Established	1932
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
Members	14 (16, effective 2025)
Sports fielded	21[1] men's: 9 women's: 12
Region	South East South Central South Atlantic West South Central Midwest West North Central
Headquarters	Birmingham, Alabama
Commissioner	Greg Sankey (since 2015)
Website	www.secsports.com
Locations

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ten states, three additional public land-grant universities, and one private research university. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in sports competitions; for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A.

Members of the SEC have won many national championships: 43 in football, 21 in basketball, 41 in indoor track, 42 in outdoor track, 24 in swimming, 20 in gymnastics, 13 in baseball (College World Series), and one in volleyball. In 1992, the SEC was the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a championship game (and award a subsequent title) for football and was one of the founding member conferences of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The current SEC commissioner is Greg Sankey, who has been the commissioner since 2015. The conference sponsors team championships in nine men's sports and twelve women's sports.

The conference is successful financially, with high revenue distribution to its members. During the fiscal year 2014–15 an SEC record $455.8 million was generated,^[2] which was a sizable increase over the $292.8 million for the 2013–14,^[3] largely due to the revenue from the introduction of the SEC Network, a television network operated by the conference dedicated to SEC conference athletic events.

On July 27, 2021, the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas at Austin (Texas) of the Big 12 Conference submitted formal requests to join the SEC.^[4] On July 29, 2021 the presidents and chancellors of the current 14 SEC schools voted unanimously to offer membership to both schools,^[5] with both schools officially accepting the invitation the next day.^[6] The Sooners and Longhorns possess the Big 12's top two highest-earning athletics programs, with the Longhorns earning the nation's largest revenue. The Sooners earn the nation's eighth-largest revenue, which would be fifth-highest in the SEC.^[7]

Member universities[]

Current members[]

The SEC consists of 16 member institutions located in the U.S. states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The SEC is divided into East and West Divisions, although the divisional alignment is not strictly geographic, with Missouri in the East Division while being further west than several West Division schools, and Auburn in the West Division despite being located further east than East Division schools Missouri and Vanderbilt.^[8] These divisional groupings are applied only in football and baseball, for both scheduling and standings purposes. In football, the two division winners meet in the SEC Championship Game.

Since July 1, 2012, there are 14 members, with Vanderbilt being the only private institution.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Enrollment	Endowment (billions)[9]	Nickname	Colors	AAU Member
East Division
University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	1853	1932	53,481	$1.8	Gators		Yes
University of Georgia	Athens, Georgia	1785	1932	39,147	$1.4	Bulldogs		No
University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	1865	1932	31,057	$1.3	Wildcats		No
University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri	1839	2012	31,105	$1.7	Tigers		Yes
University of South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	1801	1991	35,468	$0.8	Gamecocks		No
University of Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee	1794	1932	30,559	$1.3	Volunteers		No
Vanderbilt University	Nashville, Tennessee	1873	1932	13,537	$6.9	Commodores		Yes
West Division
University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	1831	1932	37,842	$0.8	Crimson Tide		No
University of Arkansas	Fayetteville, Arkansas	1871	1991	29,068	$1.2	Razorbacks		No
Auburn University	Auburn, Alabama	1856	1932	30,737	$0.8	Tigers		No
Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	1860	1932	34,290	$1.0	Tigers		No
University of Mississippi	University, Mississippi	1848	1932	21,676	$0.7	Rebels		No
Mississippi State University	Starkville, Mississippi	1878	1932	22,986	$0.5	Bulldogs		No
Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	1876	2012	71,109	$13.6	Aggies		Yes

Future members[]

On July 27, 2021, Oklahoma and Texas formally notified the SEC they are seeking "an invitation for membership" beginning July 1, 2025.^[10] On July 29, 2021, the presidents of the current 14 schools of the SEC voted unanimously to extend an offer of admission to Oklahoma and Texas.^[11] On July 30, 2021, both institutions' boards of regents unanimously voted to accept the invitation, effective for the 2025–26 academic year.

Institution	Location	Founded	Join Date	Enrollment	Endowment (billions)	Nickname	Colors	Current	AAU Member
University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	1890	2025	30,903	$1.7	Sooners		Big 12	No
University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas	1883	2025	50,481	$30.1	Longhorns		Big 12	Yes

Former members[]

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Colors	Current
Sewanee: The University of the South	Sewanee, Tennessee	1857	1932	1940	Private (Episcopal)	Tigers		Southern Athletic (NCAA Division III)
Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta, Georgia	1885	1932	1964	Public	Yellow Jackets		ACC
Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	1834	1932	1966	Private	Green Wave		The American

History[]

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Founding and former members[]

The SEC was established December 8 and 9, 1932, in Knoxville, TN, when the thirteen members of the Southern Conference located east and south of the Appalachian Mountains left to form their own conference. Ten of the thirteen founding members have remained in the conference since its inception: the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University ("LSU"), the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), Mississippi State University, the University of Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University.

The other charter members were:

• The University of the South ("Sewanee") left the SEC on December 13, 1940, and later de-emphasized varsity sports.^[12] It is currently a member of the Division III Southern Athletic Association.
• Georgia Institute of Technology ("Georgia Tech") left the SEC in 1964. In 1975, it became a founding member of the Metro Conference, one of the predecessors to today's Conference USA. Georgia Tech competed in the Metro Conference in all sports except football, in which it was independent (the Metro did not sponsor football). In 1978, Georgia Tech joined another Southern Conference offshoot, the Atlantic Coast Conference, for all sports, where it has remained ever since.
• Tulane University left the SEC in 1966. Along with Georgia Tech, it was a charter member of the Metro Conference. Unlike Tech, however, Tulane remained in the Metro Conference until it merged with the Great Midwest Conference in 1995 to form Conference USA. Tulane remained an independent in football until C-USA began football competition in 1996. Tulane left C-USA in 2014 for the American Athletic Conference.

Racial Integration[]

Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl, when the Pitt Panthers, with African-American fullback Bobby Grier on the roster, met the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.^[13] There had been controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play due to his race, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to racial integration.^[14][15][16] After Griffin publicly sent a telegram to the state's Board Of Regents requesting Georgia Tech not to engage in racially integrated events, Georgia Tech's president Blake R Van Leer rejected the request and threatened to resign. The game went on as planned. ^[17]

The 1959 Mississippi State men's basketball team, led by all-American Bailey Howell, finished its season 24-1, winning the conference title, but refused to participate in the NCAA tournament as they would have played against Blacks.

It was not until 1966 that African Americans first participated in an SEC athletic contest, and the first black scholarship athletes did not play in the SEC until the 1967–68 school year.

The first African American to compete in the SEC was Stephen Martin, who walked on to the Tulane baseball team in that school's final SEC season of 1966.^[18] In August of that same year, Kentucky enrolled Nate Northington and Greg Page on football scholarships,^[19] and Vanderbilt enrolled Godfrey Dillard and Perry Wallace on basketball scholarships.^[20] At the time, the NCAA did not allow freshmen to compete on varsity teams, which meant that these pioneers could not play until 1967. Page died from complications of a spinal cord injury suffered during a football practice before ever playing a game,^[19] while Dillard suffered a career-altering injury before getting a chance to play for Vanderbilt's varsity and transferred to Eastern Michigan.^[20] The remaining two both played in the 1967–68 school year. Northington made his overall debut against Indiana on September 23, 1967^[21][22] and his SEC debut against Ole Miss the following week on September 30 (the day after Page's death^[19]), while Wallace made his varsity debut later that year.^[23]

1990 expansion[]

In 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two new members began SEC competition with the 1991–1992 basketball season.

At the same time, the SEC organized competition for some sports into two divisions. The Western Division comprised six of the seven member schools in the Central Time Zone, while the Eastern Division comprised the five member schools in the Eastern Time Zone plus Vanderbilt, which is in the Central Time Zone but was placed in the Eastern Division to preserve its rivalry with Tennessee. Initially, the divisional format was used in football, baseball, and men's basketball. The divisional format was dropped for men's basketball following the 2011–2012 season.

Following expansion, the SEC was the first conference to receive permission from the NCAA to sponsor an annual football championship game that did not count against NCAA limits on regular-season contests, featuring the winners of the conference's Eastern and Western divisions.^[24] The 1992 and 1993 championship games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, and all championship games from 1994 onward have been held in Atlanta—first at the Georgia Dome until its closure and demolition after the 2016 season, and since 2017 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.^[24]

2012 expansion[]

On September 25, 2011, the SEC Presidents and Chancellors, acting unanimously, announced that Texas A&M University would join the SEC effective July 1, 2012, to begin competition in nineteen of the twenty sports sponsored by the SEC during the 2012–13 academic year.^[25] On November 6, 2011 the SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri would also join the SEC on July 1, 2012.^[26] For football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division.^{[27][28][29][30]} Texas A&M and Missouri both left the Big 12 Conference.

2020s expansion[]

On July 27, 2021, Oklahoma and Texas formally notified the SEC they are seeking "an invitation for membership" beginning at the latest July 1, 2025. In a joint letter, which was made public, Texas president Jay Hartzell and Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. wrote, "We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC."^[10] On July 29, 2021, the presidents of the current 14 schools of the SEC voted unanimously to extend an offer of admission to Oklahoma and Texas.^[11] The boards of regents for both institutions on July 30, 2021 accepted conference membership.

Commissioners[]

The office of Commissioner was created in 1940.^[31]

Years	Commissioners
1940–1945	Martin S. Conner
1951–1965	Bernie Moore
1966–1971	A. M. "Tonto" Coleman
1972–1985	H. Boyd McWhorter
1986–1989	Harvey W. Schiller
1990–2001	Roy F. Kramer
2002–2015	Michael Slive
2015–present	Greg Sankey

Membership timeline[]

Full members Other Conference Other Conference

Academics and SECU[]

Formation of SECU and SEC academic network[]

In 2005, the member institutions of the Southeastern Conference formed the SEC Academic Consortium (SECAC), a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship, and achievement amongst the universities.^[32]

In 2011, the SEC Academic Consortium was relocated to the SEC headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, from its original home on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and was renamed SECU. The SECU rebranded its mission to better serve as a means through which the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of Southeastern Conference universities would be promoted and advanced. The SECU's goals included highlighting the endeavors and achievements of SEC faculty, students and its universities; advancing the academic reputation of SEC universities; identifying and preparing future leaders for high-level service in academia; increasing the amount and type of study abroad opportunities available for students; and providing opportunities for collaboration among SEC university personnel.^[33][34] The Big Ten Conference has a similar program called the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

The SEC Symposium component of SECU was crafted by Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, who at the time was the Vice President of the SEC Executive Committee and liaison to SECU.^[35] In an interview with Dr. Zeppos about the formation of the SECU he noted, "that the member institutions of the Southeastern Conference are committed to a shared mission of fostering research, scholarship, and achievement. The SEC Symposium represents a platform to connect, collaborate and promote a productive dialogue that will span disciplinary and institutional boundaries and allow us to work together for the betterment of society."^[36]

The SEC Academic Network was created in 2009 in partnership with ESPN. The SEC Academic Network was an online library of institutionally produced videos featuring academic initiatives and stories from all Southeastern Conference institutions. The SEC Academic Network was officially merged into the SECU operation.^[37]

Association of American Universities[]

Four SEC institutions are members of the prestigious Association of American Universities: Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Prior to the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M from the Big 12, the SEC had the fewest AAU members among Power Five conferences. The Big 12 Conference had seven AAU members through the 2010–11 school year, but four of these schools left the conference in 2011 and 2012—Nebraska for the Big Ten in 2011 (a move that took effect shortly after that school was expelled from the AAU^[38]), Colorado for the Pac-12 in 2012, and Missouri and Texas A&M for the SEC in 2012, leaving that conference with three AAU members. Once Texas joins, the SEC will have five AAU members to the Big 12's two.

Spending and revenue[]

Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights/licensing, student fees, school funds, and all other sources including TV income, camp income, food, and novelties. Total expenses includes coaching/staff, scholarships, buildings/grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, and all other costs including recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance costs.

Future members in gray.

Conference rank (2018–19)	National rank (2018–19)	Institution	2018-19 total revenue from athletics[39]	2018–19 total expenses on athletics[39]
1	1	University of Texas at Austin	$223,879,781	$204,234,897
2	2	Texas A&M University	$212,748,002	$169,012,456
3	5	University of Georgia	$174,042,482	$143,299,554
4	7	University of Alabama	$164,090,889	$185,317,681
5	8	University of Oklahoma	$163,126,695	$157,958,270
6	9	University of Florida	$159,706,937	$141,829,002
7	10	Louisiana State University	$157,787,782	$148,977,880
8	13	Auburn University	$152,455,416	$139,260,711
9	15	University of Kentucky	$150,435,842	$144,886,246
10	16	University of Tennessee	$143,765,903	$142,976,173
11	17	University of South Carolina	$140,695,659	$136,879,732
12	20	University of Arkansas	$137,497,788	$129,620,361
13	30	Mississippi State University	$112,273,809	$98,832,615
14	34	University of Mississippi	$108,442,428	$113,013,400
15	37	University of Missouri	$106,610,244	$108,398,447
N/A	N/A	Vanderbilt University	N/A	N/A

Key personnel[]

Future members in gray.

School	Athletic director	Football coach	Men's basketball coach	Women's basketball coach	Baseball coach	Softball coach	Volleyball coach
Alabama	Greg Byrne	Nick Saban	Nate Oats	Kristy Curry	Brad Bohannon	Patrick Murphy	Lindsey Devine
Arkansas	Hunter Yurachek	Sam Pittman	Eric Musselman	Mike Neighbors	Dave Van Horn	Courtney Deifel	Jason Watson
Auburn	Allen Greene	Bryan Harsin	Bruce Pearl	Johnnie Harris	Butch Thompson	Mickey Dean	Brent Crouch
Florida	Scott Stricklin	Dan Mullen	Mike White	Cameron Newbauer	Kevin O'Sullivan	Tim Walton	Mary Wise
Georgia	Josh Brooks	Kirby Smart	Tom Crean	Joni Taylor	Scott Stricklin	Tony Baldwin	Tom Black
Kentucky	Mitch Barnhart	Mark Stoops	John Calipari	Kyra Elzy	Nick Mingione	Rachel Lawson	Craig Skinner
LSU	Scott Woodward	Ed Orgeron	Will Wade	Kim Mulkey	Jay Johnson	Beth Torina	Fran Flory
Ole Miss	Keith Carter	Lane Kiffin	Kermit Davis	Yolett McPhee-McCuin	Mike Bianco	Jamie Trachsel	Kayla Banwarth
Mississippi State	John Cohen	Mike Leach	Ben Howland	Nikki McCray-Penson	Chris Lemonis	Samantha Ricketts	Julie Darty
Missouri	Desiree Reed-Francois	Eliah Drinkwitz	Cuonzo Martin	Robin Pingeton	Steve Bieser	Larissa Anderson	Joshua Taylor
Oklahoma	Joe Castilgione	Lincoln Riley	Porter Moser	Jennie Baranczyk	Skip Johnson	Patty Gasso	Lindsey Gray-Walton
South Carolina	Ray Tanner	Shane Beamer	Frank Martin	Dawn Staley	Mark Kingston	Beverly Smith	Tom Mendoza
Tennessee	Danny White	Josh Heupel	Rick Barnes	Kellie Harper	Tony Vitello	Karen Weekly	Eve Rackham
Texas	Chris Del Conte	Steve Sarkisian	Chris Beard	Vic Schaefer	David Pierce	Mike White	Jerritt Elliott
Texas A&M	Ross Bjork	Jimbo Fisher	Buzz Williams	Gary Blair	Jim Schlossnagle	Jo Evans	Laura Kuhn
Vanderbilt	Candice Storey Lee	Clark Lea	Jerry Stackhouse	Stephanie White	Tim Corbin	no team	no team

Facilities[]

Future members in gray.

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity
Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium[40]	101,821	Coleman Coliseum[40]	15,383	Sewell–Thomas Stadium[40]	8,500
Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium[41][a]	76,000	Bud Walton Arena[41]	19,368	Baum–Walker Stadium[41]	10,737
Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium[42]	87,451	Auburn Arena[43]	9,121	Plainsman Park[44]	4,096
Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium[45]	88,548	O'Connell Center[45]	10,133	Florida Ballpark[46]	7,000
Georgia	Sanford Stadium[47]	92,746	Stegeman Coliseum[48]	10,523	Foley Field[49]	3,291
Kentucky	Kroger Field[50]	61,000	Rupp Arena[51] Memorial Coliseum[52][b]	20,545 8,000	Kentucky Proud Park[53]	5,000[c]
LSU	Tiger Stadium[54]	102,321	Pete Maravich Assembly Center[55]	13,215	Alex Box Stadium[56]	10,326
Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium[57]	61,337	Humphrey Coliseum[57]	10,575	Dudy Noble Field[58]	15,000[d][60]
Missouri	Faurot Field[61]	62,621	Mizzou Arena[61]	15,061	Taylor Stadium[61]	3,031
Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium[62]	80,126	Lloyd Noble Center[63]	10,967	L. Dale Mitchell Park[64]	3,180
Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium[65]	64,038	The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss[65]	9,500	Swayze Field[65]	11,477[66]
South Carolina	Williams–Brice Stadium[67]	80,250	Colonial Life Arena[67]	18,000	Founders Park[67]	8,242
Tennessee	Neyland Stadium[68]	102,455	Thompson–Boling Arena[68]	21,678	Lindsey Nelson Stadium[68]	4,283
Texas	Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium[69]	100,119	Moody Center[70][e]	10,000	UFCU Disch–Falk Field[71]	6,649
Texas A&M	Kyle Field[72]	102,733	Reed Arena[73]	12,989	Blue Bell Park[74]	6,100[75]
Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium[76]	40,350	Memorial Gymnasium[76]	14,316	Hawkins Field[76]	3,700

Sports[]

The Southeastern Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[77] Under SEC conference rules reflecting the large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX), each member institution is required to provide two more women's varsity sports than men's. A similar rule was recently adopted by the NCAA for all of Division I.^[78][79]

Teams in SEC conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	14	-
Basketball	14	14
Cross country	13	14
Equestrian	-	5
Football	14	-
Golf	14	14
Gymnastics	-	8
Soccer	–	14
Softball	-	13
Swimming & diving	10	12
Tennis	13	14
Indoor track & field	13	14
Outdoor track & field	13	14
Volleyball	-	13

Men's sponsored sports by school[]

School	Baseball	Basket­ball	Cross country	Football	Golf	Swimming and diving	Tennis	Track and field (indoor)	Track and field (outdoor)	Total SEC Sports
Alabama	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Arkansas	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Auburn	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Florida	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Georgia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Kentucky	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
LSU	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Mississippi State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Missouri	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	8
Ole Miss	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
South Carolina	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Tennessee	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Texas A&M	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Vanderbilt	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	6
Totals	14	14	13	14	14	10	13	13	13	118
Future members
Oklahoma	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Texas	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southeastern Conference which are played by SEC schools (future members in gray):

School	Gymnastics	Rifle[a]	Soccer	Wrestling
Kentucky	No	Great America Rifle Conference	Conference USA	No
Missouri	No	No	No	Big 12 Conference[b]
Oklahoma	MPSF	No	No	Big 12 Conference[c]
South Carolina	No	No	Conference USA	No

Women's sponsored sports by school[]

School	Basketball	Cross country	Eques­trian	Golf	Gym­nastics	Soccer	Softball	Swimming and diving	Tennis	Track and field (indoor)	Track and field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total SEC sports
Alabama	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Arkansas	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Auburn	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Florida	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Georgia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Kentucky	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
LSU	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Mississippi State	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Missouri	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Ole Miss	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
South Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Tennessee	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Texas A&M	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Vanderbilt	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8
Totals	14	14	4	14	8	14	13	12	14	14	14	13	148
Future members
Oklahoma	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Texas	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southeastern Conference which are played by SEC schools (future members in gray):

School	Beach volleyball	Bowling	Rowing	Rifle[a]	Lacrosse
Alabama	No	No	Big 12	No	No
Florida	No	No	No	No	The American
LSU	CCSA	No	No	No	No
Kentucky	No	No	No	Great America Rifle	No
Oklahoma	No	No	Big 12[b]	No	No
Ole Miss	No	No	No	Great America Rifle	No
South Carolina	CCSA	No	No	No	No
Tennessee	No	No	Big 12	No	No
Texas	No	No	Big 12[c]	No	No
Vanderbilt	No	Southland Bowling	No	No	The American

Current champions[]

• (RS) indicates regular-season champion
• (T) indicates tournament champion

Season	Sport	Men's champion		Women's champion
Fall 2020	Cross country	Arkansas		Arkansas
	Football	Alabama		–
	Soccer	–		Arkansas/Texas A&M (RS)	Vanderbilt (T)
	Volleyball[a]	–		Kentucky
Winter 2020–21	Basketball	Alabama (RS)	Alabama (T)	Texas A&M (RS)	South Carolina (T)
	Equestrian	–		Auburn
	Gymnastics	–		Florida (RS)	Alabama
	Swimming and diving	Florida		Kentucky
	Track and field (indoor)	Arkansas		Arkansas
Spring 2021	Baseball	Arkansas (RS)	Arkansas (T)	–
	Softball	–		Arkansas/Florida (RS)	Alabama (T)
	Golf	Vanderbilt		Auburn
	Tennis	Florida (RS)	Tennessee (T)	Georgia (RS)	Georgia (T)
	Track and field (outdoor)	Arkansas		Arkansas

Source: SECSports.com.^[81]

Football[]

For the upcoming season, see 2021 Southeastern Conference football season.

Scheduling[]

SEC teams did not play a uniform number of conference games until 1974. Prior to that, the number of conference games teams played ranged from four to eight, but most played a 6-  or 7-game schedule. The league adopted a uniform 6-game schedule from 1974 to 1987, and added a seventh conference game from 1988 to 1991. Through this period and through the earlier years each SEC school had five permanent opponents, developing some traditional rivalries between schools, and the other games rotated around the other members of the conference.

After expansion to twelve programs in 1992, the SEC went to an 8-game conference schedule, with each team playing the five other teams in their division and three opponents from the other division. The winners of the two divisions would then meet in the SEC Championship Game.

From 1992 through 2002, each team had two permanent inter-divisional opponents, allowing many traditional rivalries from the pre-expansion era (such as Florida vs. Auburn, Kentucky vs. LSU, and Vanderbilt vs. Alabama) to continue. However, complaints from some league athletic directors about imbalance in the schedule (for instance, Auburn's two permanent opponents from the East were Florida and Georgia – two of the SEC's stronger football programs at the time – while Mississippi State played Kentucky and South Carolina every year) led to the SEC reducing the number of permanent inter-division opponents to one starting in the 2003 season. The TV networks televising SEC games were also pressuring for the change so attractive match-ups between non-traditional opponents would happen twice every five years instead of twice every eight years. With the subsequent expansion to 14 members in 2012, non-permanent cross-division opponents face each other in the regular season twice in a span of twelve years.

Under the current format, each school plays a total of eight conference games, consisting of the other six teams in its division, one school from the other division on a rotating basis, and one school from the other division that it plays each year. The permanent cross-division matchups are: Alabama–Tennessee; Arkansas–Missouri; Auburn–Georgia; LSU–Florida; Mississippi State–Kentucky; Ole Miss–Vanderbilt; Texas A&M–South Carolina.

The current scheduling arrangement was originally set to expire after the 2015 season, but the SEC presidents voted 10–4^[82] in April 2014 to keep the current format for an additional six to eight seasons beyond 2015.^[83] Additionally, since 2016, SEC teams have been required to schedule at least one opponent each season from the other so-called "Power Five" conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac-12); games against select football independent schools also qualify, including Army, BYU, and Notre Dame.^[83][84][85]

All-time school records (ranked according to winning percentage)[]

Through end of the 2019 regular season including SEC Championship Game. Records reflect official NCAA results, including any forfeits or win vacating.^[86]

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2019)

#	SEC	Record	Win %	SEC championships	Claimed national championships
1	Alabama	929-331–43	.729	28	18
2	Tennessee	849-402-54	.671	13	6
3	Georgia	839-427–54	.656	13	2
4	LSU	817-420-47	.655	12	4
5	Auburn	782-450–47	.630	8	2
6	Florida	743–424–40	.632	8	3
7	Texas A&M	758–487-48	.605	0	3
8	Arkansas	720–521–40	.578	0	1
9	Ole Miss	647-537–35	.545	6	3
10	Missouri	688–574–53	.543	0	0
11	South Carolina	615–594–44	.508	0	0
12	Kentucky	629–632–44	.499	2	1
13	Mississippi State	573–592–39	.492	1	0
14	Vanderbilt	609–638–50	.489	0	0

Notes:

• Alabama's record reflects 21 wins being vacated (2005–2007) and eight wins and one tie forfeited (1993).
• Mississippi State's record reflects 18 wins and one tie being forfeited (1975–1977).
• Ole Miss's record reflects 33 wins being vacated (2010–2016).
• Two former members have also won conference titles, Georgia Tech five and Tulane three.

Championship Game[]

The SEC Championship Game pits the SEC Western Division representative against the Eastern Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed. The first two SEC Championship football games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Since 1994, it has been played in Atlanta—first at the Georgia Dome through 2016, and since 2017 at its replacement, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with the current hosting contract running through 2027. The "home team" designation alternates between the division champions, going to the East champion in even-numbered years and the West champion in odd-numbered years. As of 2018, the West leads 15–12 in overall wins in the championship game against the East.

Bowl games[]

The post-season bowl game tie-ins for the SEC for the 2014–2019 seasons are:^[87]

Pick	Name	Location	Opposing conference	Opposing pick	Payout
1^	Sugar Bowl	New Orleans, Louisiana	Big 12	1	$19M
2†	Orange Bowl	Miami Gardens, Florida	ACC	1	$18M
3	Citrus Bowl	Orlando, Florida	Big Ten – ACC°	3/4/5 – 2	$4.2M
4/5/6/7/8/9	Outback Bowl	Tampa, Florida	Big Ten	3/4/5	$3.5M
4/5/6/7/8/9	Duke's Mayo Bowl	Charlotte, North Carolina	ACC¤	3/4/5/6/7	$1.7M
4/5/6/7/8/9	Las Vegas Bowl	Paradise, Nevada	Pac-12¤
4/5/6/7/8/9	Texas Bowl	Houston, Texas	Big 12	4	$3.0M
4/5/6/7/8/9	Liberty Bowl	Memphis, Tennessee	Big 12	5	$1.4M
4/5/6/7/8/9	Gator Bowl	Jacksonville, Florida	Big Ten – ACC‡	6/7/8 – 3/4/5/6/7	$2.8M
4/5/6/7/8/9	Music City Bowl	Nashville, Tennessee	Big Ten – ACC‡	6/7/8 – 3/4/5/6/7	$2.8M
10/11	Gasparilla Bowl	Tampa, Florida	Pool
10/11	Birmingham Bowl	Birmingham, Alabama	American	5	$1.1M

Payout is per team for the 2014 season; if different for opposing conference, payout for the SEC team is shown. Each conference member, irrespective of bowl participation, also receives an equal split of a payout to the SEC conference.^[88][89][90]

^ The Sugar Bowl is contractually obligated to select the SEC champion if that team is not participating in the College Football Playoff. In years where the champion is unavailable the Playoff Committee will assign another SEC team to participate in the Sugar. Alternatively, in years where the Sugar hosts a playoff game the SEC Champion will be sent to the Fiesta, Cotton, or Peach Bowl if not selected for the playoff.

† The Big Ten and SEC will be eligible to face the ACC representative in the Orange Bowl at least three out of the eight seasons that it does not host a semifinal for the Playoff over a 12-year span. Notre Dame may be chosen the other two years if eligible.

° In years when the Big Ten places a team in the Orange Bowl, the Citrus Bowl will select from ACC teams remaining after the Playoff Committee and Orange Bowl make their selections.

‡ The Big Ten and ACC will switch between the Music City and Gator bowls on alternating years.

¤ For the 2020 through 2025 seasons, the Big Ten and SEC will alternate which conference sends a team to the Duke's Mayo Bowl or the Las Vegas Bowl. SEC will be in the Las Vegas Bowl during the even years and Duke's Mayo Bowl during the odd years.

Head coach compensation[]

The total pay of head coaches includes university and non-university compensation including base salary, income from contracts, foundation supplements, bonuses and media and radio pay as of the 2021 season.

Conference pay rank	Institution	Head coach	2021 total pay
1	University of Alabama	Nick Saban	$9,500,000[91]
2	Texas A&M University	Jimbo Fisher	$7,500,000
3	Louisiana State University	Ed Orgeron	$7,000,000
4	University of Georgia	Kirby Smart	$6,871,600
5	University of Florida	Dan Mullen	$6,070,000
6	Auburn University	Bryan Harsin	$5,000,000[92]
7	Mississippi State University	Mike Leach	$5,000,000
8	University of Kentucky	Mark Stoops	$4,763,600
9	University of Mississippi	Lane Kiffin	$4,500,000[93]
10	University of Missouri	Eliah Drinkwitz	$4,000,000
11	University of Tennessee	Josh Heupel	$4,000,000[94]
12	University of Arkansas	Sam Pittman	$3,000,000
13	University of South Carolina	Shane Beamer	$2,750,000
14	Vanderbilt University	Clark Lea	Salary unknown

Player awards[]

Each year, the conference selects various individual awards. In 1994, the conference began honoring former players from each school annually with the SEC Football Legends program.

50th anniversary All-Time SEC Team[]

In 1982, the SEC Skywriters, a group of media covering the Southeastern Conference, selected members of their All-Time SEC Team for the first fifty years (1933–82) of the SEC.^[95]

Men's basketball[]

For the upcoming season, see .

Since the 2012–13 season, SEC teams have played an 18-game conference schedule, which includes two games (home and away) against each of three permanent rivals and single games against the remaining twelve teams in the conference. Men's basketball formerly used the East/West divisional alignment for regular-season scheduling and seeding the conference tournament, but it no longer does.

Before expansion to 14 teams, the conference schedule was 16 games. Although the divisions were eliminated beginning with the 2011–12 season, that season's schedule was still set according to the divisional alignments, with each team facing each team from its own division twice and each team from the opposite division once. As part of the proposal by SEC head coaches that led to the scrapping of the divisional structure, a task force of four coaches and four athletic directors was set to discuss future conference scheduling. At that time, options included a revamped 16-game schedule, an 18-game schedule, or a full double round-robin of 22 conference games.^[96] However, these discussions came before Texas A&M and Missouri were announced in late 2011 as incoming members for the 2012–13 season, which required a format that could support 14 teams rather than twelve.

At the 2012 SEC spring meetings, league athletic directors adopted an 18-game conference schedule. Each school had one permanent opponent that it played home and away every season, and faced four other opponents in a home-and-home series during a given season, and then the remaining teams one each (four home, four away). The permanent opponents were Alabama-Auburn, Arkansas-Missouri, Florida-Kentucky, Georgia-South Carolina, LSU-Texas A&M, Ole Miss-Mississippi State, and Tennessee-Vanderbilt. The home-and-home opponents, apart from the permanent opponent, rotated each season.^[97]

The 2014 SEC spring meetings saw a further change to the scheduling format. While the athletic directors voted to stay with an 18-game conference schedule, they increased the number of permanent opponents for each school from one to three. Each school retained its permanent opponent from the 2012–2014 period while adding two others.^[98]

From 1966–67, following Tulane's departure, through 1990–91, the year prior to the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina, teams played a double round-robin, 18-game conference schedule. No team was undefeated in this period, though three teams went 17–1 (Kentucky in 1970 and 1986, LSU in 1981). During the period from 1992 to 2012 when the league slate was 16 games, Kentucky went undefeated in SEC play in 1996, 2003, and 2012 (although only the 2003 team went on to win the conference tournament).

Since the return to an 18-game conference schedule following the 2012 conference expansion, two teams have gone undefeated in SEC play: Florida in 2013–14 and Kentucky in 2014–15.

Scheduling partners[]

The table below lists each school's permanent men's basketball-only scheduling partners beginning in 2014–15.

School	Partner 1	Partner 2	Partner 3
Alabama	Auburn	LSU	Mississippi State
Arkansas	LSU	Missouri	Texas A&M
Auburn	Alabama	Georgia	Ole Miss
Florida	Georgia	Kentucky	Vanderbilt
Georgia	Auburn	Florida	South Carolina
Kentucky	Florida	Tennessee	Vanderbilt
LSU	Alabama	Arkansas	Texas A&M
Ole Miss	Mississippi State	Auburn	Missouri
Mississippi State	Alabama	Ole Miss	South Carolina
Missouri	Arkansas	Ole Miss	Texas A&M
South Carolina	Georgia	Mississippi State	Tennessee
Tennessee	Kentucky	South Carolina	Vanderbilt
Texas A&M	Arkansas	LSU	Missouri
Vanderbilt	Kentucky	Tennessee	Florida

Basketball tournament[]

The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (also known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the competition that determines the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Notably, it does not determine the SEC conference champion in men's basketball—the conference has awarded its championship to the team(s) with the best regular-season record since the 1950–51 season.^[99] It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.

With the expansion to 14 members in 2012, the 2013 tournament was the first with a new format covering five days. The teams seeded eleven through fourteen play on the first day, with the winners advancing to play the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds on Thursday. The top four teams receive a "double bye" and do not play until the quarterfinals on Friday.

As of the current 2020–21 season, the tournament has most often been held at two venues that have each hosted twelve times. Louisville Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky served as the regular host from 1941 until the tournament was discontinued after the 1952 edition. The Georgia Dome in Atlanta first hosted the tournament in 1995 and most recently hosted in 2014. Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee is now the regular host, with that venue hosting the tournament from 2015 through 2025, except in 2018 and 2022 (years in which it will instead host the SEC women's basketball tournament).^[100] Sometimes, the tournament will take place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, or Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The 2018 tournament was held at Scottrade Center, now Enterprise Center, in St. Louis, Missouri, and the 2022 tournament will be at Amalie Arena.^[101]

Prior to moving to the Georgia Dome, the tournament (during its modern, post-1979 era) was most often contested at the venue now known as Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, home of the SEC's headquarters and centrally located prior to the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina. Other sites to host include on-campus arenas at LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt; Rupp Arena in Lexington; and the Orlando Arena.

NCAA tournament champions, runners-up and locations[]

† denotes overtime games. Multiple †'s indicate more than one overtime.

Year	Champion		Runner-up		Venue and city
1948	Kentucky	58	Baylor	42	Madison Square Garden	New York
1949	Kentucky (2)	46	Oklahoma A&M	36	Hec Edmundson Pavilion	Seattle
1951	Kentucky (3)	68	Kansas State	58	Williams Arena	Minneapolis
1958	Kentucky (4)	84	Seattle	72	Freedom Hall	Louisville, Kentucky
1966	Texas Western	72	Kentucky	65	Cole Field House	College Park, Maryland
1975	UCLA (10)	92	Kentucky	85	San Diego Sports Arena	San Diego
1978	Kentucky (5)	94	Duke	88	The Checkerdome	St. Louis
1994	Arkansas	76	Duke	72	Charlotte Coliseum	Charlotte, North Carolina
1995	UCLA (11)	92	Arkansas	85	Kingdome	Seattle
1996	Kentucky (6)	76	Syracuse	67	Continental Airlines Arena	East Rutherford, New Jersey
1997†	Arizona	84	Kentucky	79	RCA Dome	Indianapolis
1998	Kentucky (7)	78	Utah	69	Alamodome	San Antonio
2000	Michigan State (2)	89	Florida	76	RCA Dome	Indianapolis
2006	Florida	73	UCLA	57	RCA Dome	Indianapolis
2007	Florida (2)	84	Ohio State	75	Georgia Dome	Atlanta
2012	Kentucky (8)	67	Kansas	59	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	New Orleans
2014	UConn	60	Kentucky	54	AT&T Stadium	Arlington, Texas

Awards[]

The SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year is awarded to the player who has proven himself, throughout the season, to be the most exceptional talent in the Southeastern Conference. Various other awards, such as the best tournament player in the SEC Tournament and all conference honors are given out throughout the year.

Baseball[]

Schools play a 30-game league schedule (10 three-game series). Since 1996, schools have played all five schools within their division and five schools from the opposite division. Before the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M in advance of the 2013 season, schools missed only one opponent from the opposite division in a given season; each school now misses three opponents from the opposite division.

Since 1990, the SEC has become the most successful conference on the college baseball diamond. That year, Georgia captured the conference's first national championship at the College World Series. Following that, LSU won six of the next 19 titles, including five of ten between 1991 and 2000 and its sixth title in 2009. This was followed by South Carolina winning back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, Vanderbilt winning its first title in 2014, Florida winning its first title in 2017, Vanderbilt winning again in 2019, and Mississippi State claiming its first title in 2021. During that same span, 10 teams have also been runners-up at the CWS. The CWS final series has featured two SEC teams in 1997, 2011, 2017, and 2021. The only current SEC member that has never appeared in the CWS is Kentucky; every other current member has appeared at least 5 times. Among other current SEC members, only Missouri has not appeared in the CWS while a member of the SEC (and has yet to make the NCAA tournament as an SEC member), although it made six CWS appearances in the 1950s and 1960s while in the Big Eight Conference. Both Georgia Tech and Tulane have made appearances in the CWS after leaving the SEC. Future SEC member Texas leads all schools in CWS appearances with 37, and its 6 titles tie the Longhorns with LSU for the second-most championships. Another future member, Oklahoma, has two titles from 10 CWS appearances.

SEC teams have also become leaders in total and average attendance over the years. In 2010 five of the top six drawing programs hailed from the SEC. Six more teams placed in the top 35 nationally.

The NCAA automatic berth is given to the winner of the SEC Baseball Tournament, which was first started in 1977. It is a double-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. Since 1998, the tournament has been held at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama and contested under the format used at the College World Series from 1988 through 2002, with two four-team brackets leading to a single championship game. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

SEC presidents and athletic directors voted to expand the SEC Tournament to ten teams starting in 2012. The division winners received a bye on the first day of competition, and the tournament became single-elimination after the field is pared to four teams.

With the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M for the 2013 baseball season, the tournament was expanded to 12 teams. The top four seeds receive a bye on the first day, with seeds 5–12 playing single elimination. The tournament is double-elimination for the next three days, then reverts to single elimination when four teams are remaining.

In addition to the winner of the SEC Baseball Tournament, the Southeastern Conference usually gets several at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Many teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament despite failing to win a game in the SEC Tournament. One of those, Mississippi State, went 0–2 in the 2007 SEC Tournament, but reached the College World Series in 2007.

College World Series champions, runners-up and scores[]

Note: Teams in bold are current SEC members who advanced to the CWS while in the conference. Teams in bold italics are current SEC members who were either in another conference or an independent at the time of their appearance.

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score(s)	Venue
1951	Oklahoma	Tennessee	3–2	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1952	Holy Cross	Missouri	8–4	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1954	Missouri	Rollins	4–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1958	Southern California (2)	Missouri	8–7	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1964	Minnesota	Missouri	5–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1975	Texas (3)	South Carolina	2–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1977	Arizona State (4)	South Carolina	2–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1979	Cal State Fullerton	Arkansas	2–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1983	Texas (4)	Alabama	4–3	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1990	Georgia	Oklahoma State	2–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1991	LSU	Wichita State	6–3	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1993	LSU (2)	Wichita State	8–0	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1996	LSU (3)	Miami (FL)	9–8	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
1997	LSU (4)	Alabama	13–6	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2000	LSU (5)	Stanford	6–5	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2002	Texas (5)	South Carolina	12–6	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2005	Texas (6)	Florida	4–2, 6–2	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2008	Fresno State	Georgia	6–7, 19–10, 6–1	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2009	LSU (6)	Texas	7–6, 1–5, 11–4	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2010	South Carolina	UCLA	7–1, 2–1 (11)	Rosenblatt Stadium	Omaha, Nebraska
2011	South Carolina (2)	Florida	2–1 (11), 5–2	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2012	Arizona (4)	South Carolina	5–1, 4–1	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2013	UCLA	Mississippi State	3–1, 8–0	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2014	Vanderbilt	Virginia	9–8, 2–7, 3–2	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2015	Virginia	Vanderbilt	1–5, 3–0, 4–2	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2017	Florida	LSU	4–3, 6–1	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2018	Oregon State (3)	Arkansas	1–4, 5–3, 5–0	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2019	Vanderbilt (2)	Michigan	4–7, 4–1, 8–2	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska
2021	Mississippi State	Vanderbilt	2–8, 13–2, 9–0	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska

College World Series appearances[]

Future members in gray.

School	Appearances	Most recent	Highest finish
Texas	37	2021	1st (6×)
LSU	18	2017	1st (6×)
Florida	12	2018	1st
Mississippi State	12	2021	1st
South Carolina	11	2012	1st (2×)
Arkansas	10	2019	2nd (2×)
Oklahoma	10	2010	1st (2×)
Georgia	6	2008	1st
Missouri	6	1964	1st
Texas A&M	6	2017	5th
Alabama	5	1999	2nd (2×)
Auburn	5	2019	4th
Ole Miss	5	2014	4th
Tennessee	5	2021	2nd
Vanderbilt	5	2021	1st (2x)
Kentucky	0	N/A	N/A

Rivalries[]

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Several baseball rivalries have developed in the SEC:

• LSU–Tulane

Historically these schools were arch-rivals in all sports, but following Tulane's decades-long de-emphasis of sports, including its exit from the SEC in 1966, baseball is the only sport in which the two schools are relatively evenly matched. On several occasions match-ups between the two have drawn national record-setting attendances. Tulane reached its first College World Series in 2001 by defeating LSU in three games in the NCAA Super Regional. In 2002, the Tigers and Green Wave drew an NCAA regular season record crowd of 27,673 to the Louisiana Superdome.

• LSU–Mississippi State

Before the arrival of Skip Bertman as LSU's baseball coach in 1984, Mississippi State had long dominated the conference in baseball, with most of that success coming under coach Ron Polk, who returned to coach the Bulldogs in 2002 after retiring in 1997. When Bertman arrived in Baton Rouge, LSU's long-dormant program took off, winning eleven SEC championships and five College World Series championships between 1984 and 2001.

• South Carolina–Clemson

This instate rivalry is an intense local affair, with the Gamecocks and Tigers meeting each regular season, and has gained national prominence as both teams are often ranked in the top ten nationally. The highlights of the rivalry include the 2002 and 2010 meetings in the final four of the College World Series. Each time, South Carolina emerged from the losers bracket to beat Clemson twice and advance to the national championship series.

• South Carolina–North Carolina

The Gamecocks and Tar Heels met five times in the NCAA tournament between 2002 and 2013, including the 2002 NCAA Regional, 2003 NCAA Super Regional, 2004 NCAA Regional and 2013 NCAA Regional, with the Gamecocks holding a 3–2 edge.

Women's basketball[]

The SEC has historically been a strong conference in women's basketball.^[102] Since the 2009–10 season, teams have played a 16-game conference schedule with a single league table; prior to that time the conference schedule was 14 games, again in a single table.^[103] Like SEC men's basketball, women's basketball used the divisional alignment for scheduling purposes through the 2011–12 season; however, the women's scheduling format was significantly different from the men's. Each team played home-and-home games against five schools—one permanent opponent, two teams from the same division, and two teams from the opposite division; the non-permanent home-and-home opponents rotated every two years.^[104] The remaining games were single games against the six other schools in the conference, with three at home and three away.

The league voted to keep a 16-game league schedule even after the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M. Arkansas and LSU are no longer permanent opponents, with the Razorbacks picking up Missouri and the Lady Tigers picking up Texas A&M. The other permanent opponents are the same as men's basketball, except for Florida-Georgia and Kentucky-South Carolina (both pairs had been permanent women's basketball opponents before the 2012 expansion). Each school plays two others home-and-home during a given season and the other ten once each. The divisional alignments no longer play any role in scheduling.^[105]

The recent history of SEC women's basketball is dominated by Tennessee, who have won regular season and/or conference tournament championships in 25 of the last 31 seasons, as well as eight national championships since 1987. The South Carolina Gamecocks have also had success, winning four straight SEC women's championships between 2015 and 2018, as well as a 2017 national title. In the 28 seasons the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship has been held, SEC schools have reached the Final Four 32 times, more than twice as often as any other conference.^[106]

Basketball tournament[]

The SEC Women's Basketball Tournament is currently held a week before the men's basketball tournament. Like the men's version, it is a single-elimination tournament involving all conference members, with seeding based on regular season records. With the expansion to 14 schools, the bottom four teams in the conference standings play opening-round games, and the top four receive "double byes" into the quarterfinals. The winner earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Also paralleling the men's tournament, the women's tournament does not determine the SEC champion; that honor has been awarded based on regular-season record since the 1985–86 season.^[107]

The tournament, inaugurated in 1980, was originally held on campus sites; the first tournament to take place at a neutral site was in 1987. The two most frequent sites for the tournament have been McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee (seven times) and the Albany Civic Center in Albany, Georgia (six times); however, the tournament was last played in Albany in 1992 and Chattanooga in 2000. Because demand for women's tournament tickets is generally lower than for the men's tournament, it is typically played in a smaller venue than the men's tournament in the same season. The most frequent venues since 2000 have been Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (five times), Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia (four), and Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas (four).

NCAA tournament champions, runners-up and locations[]

† denotes overtime games. Multiple †'s indicate more than one overtime.

Year	Champion		Runner-up		Venue and city
1984	Southern Cal (2)	72	Tennessee	61	Pauley Pavilion	Los Angeles
1985	Old Dominion	70	Georgia	65	Frank Erwin Center	Austin, Texas
1987	Tennessee	67	Louisiana Tech	44	Frank Erwin Center	Austin, Texas
1988	Louisiana Tech (2)	56	Auburn	54	Tacoma Dome	Tacoma, Washington
1988	Tennessee (2)	76	Auburn	70	Tacoma Dome	Tacoma, Washington
1990	Stanford	88	Auburn	81	Thompson–Boling Arena	Knoxville, Tennessee
1991†	Tennessee (3)	70	Virginia	67	Lakefront Arena	New Orleans
1995	Connecticut	70	Tennessee	64	Target Center	Minneapolis
1996	Tennessee (4)	83	Georgia	65	Charlotte Coliseum	Charlotte, North Carolina
1997	Tennessee (5)	68	Old Dominion	59	Riverfront Coliseum	Cincinnati
1998	Tennessee (6)	93	Louisiana Tech	75	Kemper Arena	Kansas City, Missouri
2000	Connecticut (2)	71	Tennessee	52	First Union Center	Philadelphia
2003	Connecticut (4)	73	Tennessee	68	Georgia Dome	Atlanta
2004	Connecticut (5)	70	Tennessee	61	New Orleans Arena	New Orleans
2007	Tennessee (7)	59	Rutgers	46	Quicken Loans Arena	Cleveland
2008	Tennessee (8)	64	Stanford	48	St. Pete Times Forum	Tampa, Florida
2017	South Carolina	67	Mississippi State	55	American Airlines Center	Dallas
2018	Notre Dame	61	Mississippi State	58	Nationwide Arena	Columbus, Ohio

Rivalries[]

• Tennessee–UConn

The Lady Vols have historically been one of the nation's dominant programs in that sport. Starting in the mid-1990s, UConn has emerged as Tennessee's main rival for national prominence. The Huskies won four national titles between 2000 and 2004; in three of those years, their opponent in the NCAA final was Tennessee. Connecticut also defeated Tennessee in the 1995 Championship game, the Huskies' first-ever title. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame brokered a deal that saw the teams renew their rivalry with a home-and-home series in 2020 and 2021, and both schools have since announced they will extend the series through at least 2023.

Other sports[]

Besides football, basketball, and baseball, there are a number of other sports in which the Southeastern Conference actively competes.

Rivalries[]

• Alabama–Georgia, women's gymnastics^{[citation needed]}

These two storied programs have often butted heads for not only SEC titles, but NCAA titles as well. Georgia has won ten national championships to Alabama's six. For decades the rivalry was dominated by the two long standing coaches of the two schools, Suzanne Yoculan of Georgia and Sarah Patterson of Alabama. Yoculan and Patterson have since retired, bringing their personal rivalry to an end.

• Alabama–Florida, women's softball^{[citation needed]}

These two nationally acclaimed softball programs have proven to be the elite of the SEC and the nation. While consistently being ranked in the nation's Top Ten, both teams find their way to the SEC Tournament Finals and often clash once more in the Women's College Softball World Series.

• Tennessee–LSU, women's softball
• Auburn–Texas, men's swimming and diving^{[citation needed]}

One of the youngest rivalries featuring an SEC team, the Tigers and Texas Longhorns are the two most successful swimming and diving programs in the country. The two have combined for 17 NCAA National Titles since 1981 (nine for Texas, eight for Auburn) and between 1999 and 2007 won every national title awarded. The two regularly face off in a meet during the regular season, Auburn's men own a 12–9 record over the Longhorns. The women just recently began an annual series, with the Tigers winning the series so far 3–1. Texas was the only team to beat the Auburn men between 2001 and 2007.^[108]

National team championships[]

Since the SEC's founding in December 1932, the varsity athletic teams of its current 14 members have won over 200 national team sports championships.

The following is the list of the national team championships claimed by current SEC member schools, including those tournament championships currently or formerly sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).^[109][110] The NCAA has never sponsored a tournament championship for major college football, the championship game for which is currently part of the College Football Playoff (CFP) system. Prior to 1992, championships for major college football were determined by a "consensus" of major polling services, including the Associated Press and United Press International college football polls. Recognized women's championships from 1972 to 1982 were administered by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), not the NCAA. There was a one-year overlap period during the 1981–82 school year, when both the AIAW and the NCAA operated women's championship tournaments; since 1982, only the NCAA has sponsored women's championship tournaments. National equestrian tournament championships are currently sponsored by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), not the NCAA. Those national championships dating from before 1933 predate the founding of the SEC in December 1932; championships won by Arkansas and South Carolina before the 1992–93 school year predate their membership in the SEC; championships won by Missouri and Texas A&M before the 2012–13 school year predate their membership in the SEC.

* A championship marked by an asterisk (*) indicates that the institution was not a member of the SEC at the time of the championship.

National team titles claimed by current SEC institutions[]

The fourteen members of the Southeastern Conference claim over 200 national team championships in sports currently or formerly sponsored by conference members. The following totals include national team championships sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 1906 to present, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1972 to 1982, and, in football, the Bowl Alliance, Bowl Coalition, Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and College Football Playoff (CFP) since 1992, as well as consensus national championships determined by the major football polls prior to 1992.

• Arkansas – 48
• LSU – 48
• Florida – 39
• Georgia – 32
• Alabama – 28
• Tennessee – 22
• Auburn – 18
• Texas A&M – 16
• Kentucky – 14
• Vanderbilt – 5
• South Carolina – 4
• Mississippi – 4
• Missouri – 2
• Mississippi State – 1

^[111]

NCAA and AIAW national tournament team titles won by current SEC institutions[]

The following totals include national team tournament championships sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 1906 to the present and the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1972 to 1982. The NCAA did not sponsor tournament championships in women's sports before the 1981–82 academic year, and the NCAA has never sponsored a national championship playoff or tournament in major college football. To date, the fourteen members of the SEC have won 216 NCAA and four AIAW championships,^[112] including:

• Arkansas – 46
• LSU – 45
• Florida – 38
• Georgia – 29
• Tennessee – 17
• Auburn – 14
• Kentucky – 13
• Texas A&M – 12
• Alabama – 10
• Vanderbilt – 5
• South Carolina – 4
• Missouri – 2
• Mississippi – 1
• Mississippi State – 1

Television and radio contracts[]

The SEC televises football games across various networks during the fall. SEC coverage is primarily provided by CBS and the ESPN family of networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ABC. Fox Sports Networks also has rights to air seven live football games over the course of the season.^[113]

ESPN reported paying $2.25 billion for broadcast rights of SEC football games beginning in the 2009 season and running through fiscal year 2025.^[114]

Games scheduled for airing are generally picked two weeks before they occur, with a few matches that are selected by CBS and ESPN prior to the season.^{[citation needed]}

CBS has the first pick for a game and selects the highest-profile game to broadcast to a national, over-the-air audience. The CBS game is usually broadcast at 3:30 Eastern. Some weekends, CBS will air a doubleheader of SEC games.^[115] CBS also has the rights for the SEC Championship Game.

ESPN will air several SEC games each week among its various channels, with Saturday time slots generally at 12:00 ET, 7:00 ET, and 7:45 ET, and some SEC games will be shown on Thursday nights. In previous years, Raycom Sports (and before it, Jefferson-Pilot/Lincoln Financial Sports) syndicated regional coverage for an SEC game of the week at 12:30 ET, but the new contract replaced it with a new ESPN-produced syndication package, the SEC Network—whose football games kickoff at 12:21 ET.^[116]

The currently scheduled Fox Sports Net games are set for 7:00 ET.^[117]

For games not selected by any broadcast provider, certain schools may offer regional pay-per-view.

As of 2008, all SEC schools are affiliated with XM Radio, offering their radio broadcasts to an audience on XM. According to SiriusXM, the SEC will not be included as part of the "Best of XM" package deal for Sirius customers. SEC Radio 24/7 on SiriusXM radio channel 374 on some radio and online

2008 television contract[]

During the 2007–2008 fiscal year review meeting, there was discussion among SEC leadership about the possibility of starting a TV network dedicated to its conference, much in the same way the Mountain West Conference and Big Ten Conference have done with the mtn. and Big Ten Networks, respectively. A decision was made to postpone the decision until at least the following year.^[118]

In August 2008, the SEC announced an unprecedented 15-year television contract with CBS worth an estimated $55 million a year. This continues the relationship the SEC already has with CBS, which puts the SEC in the unique position as the only conference to have its own exclusive national television network of the four major over-the-air broadcast networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox) to display the SEC's events.^[24]

In the same month, the league also announced another landmark television contract with ESPN worth $2.25 billion or $150 million a year for the life of the contract, which is for fifteen years. It is the longest and wealthiest contract among all television deals among the major conferences. With these contracts, the SEC had, at the time of the deal, the richest television deals in the country outside the Big Ten and helped make the SEC one of the most nationally televised and visible conferences in the country with the coverage that was provided by these contracts.^[119]

2014 SEC Network launch[]

The SEC Network is a television and multimedia network that features exclusively Southeastern Conference content through a partnership between ESPN and the SEC.^[120] The network launched on August 14, 2014 with the first live football game scheduled for two weeks later between Texas A&M and South Carolina on Thursday, August 28 in Columbia, South Carolina^[121]

The network is part of a deal between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN which is a 20-year agreement, beginning in August 2014 and running through 2034. The agreement served to create and operate a new multiplatform television network and accompanying digital platform in the hope of increasing revenue for member institutions and expanding the reach of the Southeastern Conference.

Conference champions[]

The Southeastern Conference sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports, and awards a conference championship in every one of them.

See also[]

• List of NCAA conferences
• List of SEC men's basketball tournament locations
• SEC on CBS
• Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas
• SEC Community Service Team
• Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference

References[]

External links[]

• Official website