The SEC was arguably more of a ‘basketball conference’ than a ‘football conference’ in 2025.
The SEC broke an NCAA record on Sunday when it sent 14 of its 16 teams to the NCAA Tournament. That shattered the previous record of 11, set by the 16-team Big East in 2011.
The SEC has displayed its dominance all year, but the conference has more work to do to fully leave its stamp on this season and the foreseeable future.
That dominance started in nonconference play, where the SEC went 185-23. SEC teams entered conference action in January with a collective 88.9 winning percentage.
The SEC also won its season series against the other Power 4 conferences. It went 30-4 against the ACC, including a 14-2 advantage in the early-season ACC-SEC challenge.
It also went 14-2 against the Big 12 and 10-9 against the Big Ten.
But college basketball’s current top conference is still hunting a national championship this decade. Many fans might recognize the SEC’s greatness so far this season, but a claim as the new king conference of college basketball would be hard to make without an SEC team taking the throne.
That hasn’t happened since a John Calipari-coached Kentucky team won the title in 2012. The Wildcats had six 2013 NBA Draft selections on the roster, including No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis.
The SEC certainly has a strong chance to quench that drought this season.
Top seeds Florida and Auburn are ranked second and third in national championship odds, according to VegasInsider. Tennessee and Alabama, the SEC’s No. 2 seeds, rank fifth and sixth.
Florida appears to be the SEC’s best chance at a national championship at the moment. The Gators are rolling, fresh off wins over Alabama and Tennessee to win an SEC Tournament title.
Florida is also one of three SEC programs – and the only top-2 SEC seed – to win a national championship in its program’s history.
A national title isn’t the only way the SEC could flex its muscles on the country in the tournament. The SEC’s lower-seeded teams could cause some chaos in the early rounds and survive into the second weekend.
The conference can put as many as 11 teams in the Sweet Sixteen. That the SEC has a top-2 seed in all four divisions of the bracket also creates a strong chance to have multiple teams advance to the Final Four.
Auburn and Florida, who became the SEC’s first duo of No. 1 seeds since 1980, have been picked by some experts to face off in the national championship.
That would mark the first intra-conference national championship since the Big Eight’s Kansas and Oklahoma faced off in 1988.
It has already been a remarkable season for the SEC. There remains plenty more to accomplish to cap one of the most dominant seasons by a conference in college basketball history.
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