How the SEC grabbed control of the NCAA Tournament and became the best college basketball conference ever

INDIANAPOLIS – The exact moment the SEC became a basketball conference is still up for debate. What Rick Barnes can tell you is when his league was barely known for basketball.

It was 1987, the beginning of what will someday be a hall of fame career for Tennessee’s current coach. Barnes had just taken what turned out to be a one-season-and-done job at George Mason. That season marked only the program’s 10th year of existence. It was a year before its first ever NCAA appearance, 18 years before its first NCAA win during a miracle run to the 2006 Final Four. 

“Back when I was at George Mason, you tried to schedule SEC teams in November and December because you felt like you could go in and play in front of nobody and maybe steal a game,” Barnes recalled.

Let it be known that Barnes neither beat, nor played, an SEC opponent that season but that’s not for the lack of trying. Besides, never let a good anecdote get in the way of making a point. This Midwest Regional is the main backdrop this weekend for the biggest story of the tournament to date. 

The 14 SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament is a record, by three. The Big East had 11 in 2011. The league also has a record seven Sweet 16 teams, shattering the old mark of four. Kentucky meets Tennessee here on Friday in one Midwest semifinal in a bout that will send a third SEC team to the Elite 8 (Alabama and Florida advanced Thursday night). The record for most schools from one conference in an Elite 8 is four. The SEC can tie that mark held by the ACC in 2016 and the Big East in 2009, if Auburn or Ole Miss win Friday and would even surpass it if both do.

“Everybody’s talking about how historic it’s been, the best league probably basketball has ever seen,” Tennessee assistant Rod Clark said….

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Author : Dennis Dodd

Publish date : 2025-03-28 14:56:00

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