Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference 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 Division I in sports competitions; for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A.
The SEC is regarded as one of the most accomplished sports conferences in terms of its winning reputation, with 43 national football championships, 21 basketball championships, 41 indoor track championships, 42 outdoor track championships, 24 swimming championships, 20 gymnastics championships, and 13 College World Series. In 1992 the SEC was the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a championship game for college football and was one of the founding member conferences of the Bowl Championship Series. The current SEC commissioner is Greg Sankey. 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 2014–2015 an SEC record $455.8 million for the 2014–15 fiscal year was generated, which was a sizable increase over the $292.8 million for the 2013–14, 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.
Member universities
Current members
The SEC consists of 14 member institutions located in the U.S. states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 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. 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.
Former members
History
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 west 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, the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, the University of Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University.The other charter members were:
- left the SEC on December 13, 1940, and later de-emphasized varsity sports. It is currently a member of the Division III Southern Athletic Association.
- Georgia Institute of Technology 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. 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
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. 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.
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, with Texas A&M to begin competition in nineteen of the twenty sports sponsored by the SEC during the 2012–13 academic year. On November 6, 2011 the SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri would also join the SEC on July 1, 2012. For football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division. Texas A&M and Missouri both left the Big 12 Conference.Commissioners
The office of Commissioner was created in 1940.| 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
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Academics and SECU
Formation of SECU and SEC academic network
In 2005, the member institutions of the Southeastern Conference formed the SEC Academic Consortium, a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship, and achievement amongst the universities.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. 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. 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."
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.
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 Big12 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, 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.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.| Conference rank | National rank | Institution | 2016–17 total revenue from athletics | 2016–17 total expenses on athletics |
| 1 | 2 | $211,960,034 | $146,546,229 | |
| 2 | 4 | $174,307,419 | $158,646,962 | |
| 3 | 6 | $157,852,479 | $119,218,908 | |
| 4 | 8 | $149,165,475 | $131,789,499 | |
| 5 | 9 | $147,744,233 | $131,717,421 | |
| 6 | 10 | $147,511,034 | $132,885,979 | |
| 7 | 11 | $145,653,191 | $134,880,229 | |
| 8 | 16 | $136,032,845 | $129,317,382 | |
| 9 | 17 | $130,706,744 | $125,333,866 | |
| 10 | 19 | $129,680,808 | $112,902,474 | |
| 11 | 24 | $117,834,511 | $108,885,512 | |
| 12 | 31 | $100,062,237 | $86,351,432 | |
| 13 | 32 | $97,848,195 | $102,409,131 | |
| N/A | N/A | Vanderbilt University | $80,335,651 | $69,803,910 |
Key personnel
Facilities
Sports
The Southeastern Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Under SEC conference rules reflecting the large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns, 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 DivisionI.Men's sponsored sports by school
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southeastern Conference which are played by SEC schools:| School | Rifle* | Soccer | Wrestling |
| Kentucky | Great America Rifle Conference | Conference USA | No |
| Missouri | No | No | Mid-American Conference |
| South Carolina | No | Conference USA | No |
- * = Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. Kentucky has a coed team.
Women's sponsored sports by school
| School | Beach volleyball | Bowling | Rowing | Rifle | 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 |
| Mississippi | No | No | No | Great America Rifle | No |
| South Carolina | CCSA | No | No | No | No |
| Tennessee | No | No | Big 12 | No | No |
| Vanderbilt | No | Southland Bowling | No | No | The American |
Current champions
- indicates regular-season champion
- indicates tournament champion
Football
For the current season, see 2019 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 to continue. However, complaints from some league athletic directors about imbalance in the schedule 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 in April 2014 to keep the current format for an additional six to eight seasons beyond 2015. Additionally, beginning in 2016, SEC teams will be required to schedule at least one opponent each season from the other so-called "Power Five" conferences ; games against football independent schools also qualify, including Army, BYU, and Notre Dame.
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.| # | SEC | Record | Win % | SEC championships | Claimed national championships |
| 1 | Alabama | 916–331–43 | 27 | 17 | |
| 2 | Tennessee | 846–395–54 | 13 | 6 | |
| 3 | Georgia | 831–425–54 | 13 | 2 | |
| 4 | LSU | 812–415–47 | 12 | 4 | |
| 5 | Auburn | 776–445–47 | 8 | 2 | |
| 6 | Florida | 735–420–40 | 8 | 3 | |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 749–486–48 | 0 | 3 | |
| 8 | Arkansas | 717–514–40 | 0 | 1 | |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 642–532–35 | 6 | 3 | |
| 10 | Missouri | 683–569–53 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | South Carolina | 613–586–44 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Kentucky | 624–626–44 | 2 | 1 | |
| 13 | Mississippi State | 569–585–39 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | 609–629–50 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
- Alabama's record reflects 21 wins being vacated and eight wins and one tie forfeited.
- Mississippi State's record reflects 18 wins and one tie being forfeited.
- Ole Miss's record reflects 33 wins being vacated.
- Two former members have also won conference titles, Georgia Tech five and Tulane three.
Championship Game
Bowl games
The post-season bowl game tie-ins for the SEC for the 2014–2019 seasons are:| Pick | Name | Location | Opposing conference | Opposing pick | Payout |
| 1^ | Sugar Bowl | New Orleans, Louisiana | Big 12 | 1 | $18M |
| 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 | 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 | Birmingham Bowl | Birmingham, Alabama | American | 5 | $1.1M |
| 11 | Independence Bowl | Shreveport, Louisiana | ACC | 8/9/10 | $1.2M |
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.
^ 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.
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 January 24, 2020.| Conference pay rank | Institution | Head coach | 2020 total pay |
| 1 | $8,857,000 | ||
| 2 | Texas A&M University | $7,500,000 | |
| 3 | $7,000,000 | ||
| 4 | $6,871,600 | ||
| 5 | Auburn University | $6,827,589 | |
| 6 | $6,070,000 | ||
| 7 | $5,000,000 | ||
| 8 | $4,763,600 | ||
| 9 | Will Muschamp | $4,400,000 | |
| 10 | $4,000,000 | ||
| 11 | $3,900,000 | ||
| 12 | University of Tennessee | Jeremy Pruitt | $3,846,000 |
| 13 | Vanderbilt University | $3,368,244 | |
| 14 | $3,000,000 |
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 of the SEC.Coach: Paul "Bear" Bryant
Offense
QB Archie Manning, Ole Miss 1968–70
HB Charley Trippi, Georgia 1942,45–46
HB Billy Cannon, LSU 1957–59
HB Herschel Walker, Georgia 1980–82
WR Don Hutson, Alabama 1932–34
WR Terry Beasley, Auburn 1969–71
TE Ozzie Newsome, Alabama 1974–77
OL John Hannah, Alabama 1970–72
OL Bruiser Kinard, Ole Miss 1935–37
OC Dwight Stephenson, Alabama 1977–79
OL Bob Suffridge, Tennessee 1938–40
OL Billy Neighbors, Alabama 1959–61
PK Fuad Reveiz, Tennessee 1981–84
Defense
DL Doug Atkins, Tennessee 1950–52
DL Bill Stanfill, Georgia 1966–68
DL Jack Youngblood, Florida 1968–70
DL Lou Michaels, Kentucky 1955–57
DL Gaynell Tinsley, LSU 1934–36
LB Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama 1960–62
LB Jack Reynolds, Tennessee 1967–69
LB D. D. Lewis, Miss. State 1965–67
DB Tucker Frederickson, Auburn 1962–64
DB Jake Scott, Georgia 1967–68
DB Tommy Casanova, LSU 1969–71
DB Don McNeal, Alabama 1977–79
DB Jimmy Patton, Ole Miss 1953–55
P Craig Colquitt, Tennessee 1975–77
Men's basketball
For the current season, see 2019–20 Southeastern Conference men's basketball season.Since the 2012–13 season, SEC teams have played an 18-game conference schedule, which includes two games 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. 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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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 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 with the best regular-season record since the 1950–51 season. 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 most recently completed 2017–18 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. 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.
Prior to moving to the Georgia Dome, the tournament 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.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. From 1996 through 2012, schools played all five schools within their division and five of the six schools from the opposite division. With the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M, schools will now miss three opponents from the opposite division in a given season.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, and Vanderbilt winning again in 2019. During that same span, nine teams have also been runners-up at the CWS. The CWS final series has featured two SEC teams in 1997, 2011, and 2017. The only current SEC member that has never appeared in the CWS is Kentucky. Among other current SEC members, only Missouri has not appeared in the CWS while a member of the SEC, 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.
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 twelve 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.College World Series appearances
Rivalries
Several baseball rivalries have developed in the SEC:- LSU–Tulane
- LSU–Mississippi State
- South Carolina–Clemson
- South Carolina–North Carolina
Women's basketball
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. 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.
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 Lady 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.
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.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 and the Albany Civic Center in Albany, Georgia ; 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, Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia, and Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
NCAA tournament champions, runners-up and locations
† denotes overtime games. Multiple †'s indicate more than one overtime.Rivalries
- Tennessee–UConn
Other sports
Rivalries
- Alabama–Georgia, women's gymnastics
- Alabama–Florida, women's softball
- Tennessee–LSU, women's softball
- Auburn–Texas, men's swimming and diving
National team 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. 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 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, 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, 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.
Football :
1919 – Texas A&M*
1925 – Alabama*
1926 – Alabama*
1927 – Texas A&M*
1930 – Alabama*
1934 – Alabama
1938 – Tennessee
1939 – Texas A&M*
1940 – Tennessee
1941 – Alabama
1942 – Georgia
1950 – Tennessee/Kentucky
1951 – Tennessee
1957 – Auburn
1958 – LSU
1959 – Ole Miss
1960 – Ole Miss
1961 – Alabama
1962 – Ole Miss
1964 – Arkansas
1965 – Alabama
1967 – Tennessee
1973 – Alabama
1978 – Alabama
1979 – Alabama
1980 – Georgia
1992 – Alabama
1996 – Florida
1998 – Tennessee
2003 – LSU
2006 – Florida
2007 – LSU
2008 – Florida
2009 – Alabama
2010 – Auburn
2011 – Alabama
2012 – Alabama
2015 – Alabama
2017 – Alabama
2019 – LSU
Baseball :
1954 – Missouri*
1990 – Georgia
1991 – LSU
1993 – LSU
1996 – LSU
1997 – LSU
2000 – LSU
2009 – LSU
2010 – South Carolina
2011 – South Carolina
2014 – Vanderbilt
2017 – Florida
2019 – Vanderbilt
Men's basketball :
1935 – LSU
1948 – Kentucky
1949 – Kentucky
1951 – Kentucky
1958 – Kentucky
1978 – Kentucky
1994 – Arkansas
1996 – Kentucky
1998 – Kentucky
2006 – Florida
2007 – Florida
2012 – Kentucky
Women's basketball :
1987 – Tennessee
1989 – Tennessee
1991 – Tennessee
1996 – Tennessee
1997 – Tennessee
1998 – Tennessee
2007 – Tennessee
2008 – Tennessee
2011 – Texas A&M*
2017 – South Carolina
Women's bowling :
2007 – Vanderbilt
2018 – Vanderbilt
Boxing :
1949 – LSU
Men's cross country :
1972 – Tennessee
1984 – Arkansas*
1986 – Arkansas*
1987 – Arkansas*
1990 – Arkansas*
1991 – Arkansas*
1992 – Arkansas
1993 – Arkansas
1995 – Arkansas
1998 – Arkansas
1999 – Arkansas
2000 – Arkansas
Women's cross country :
1988 – Kentucky
Women's equestrian :
2002 – Texas A&M*
2003 – Georgia
2004 – Georgia
2005 – South Carolina
2006 – Auburn
2007 – South Carolina
2008 – Georgia
2009 – Georgia
2010 – Georgia
2011 – Auburn
2012 – Texas A&M*
2013 – Auburn
2014 – Georgia
2015 – South Carolina
2016 – Auburn
2017 – Texas A&M
2018 – Auburn
Men's golf :
1940 – LSU
1942 – LSU
1947 – LSU
1955 – LSU
1968 – Florida
1973 – Florida
1993 – Florida
1999 – Georgia
2001 – Florida
2005 – Georgia
2009 – Texas A&M*
2013 – Alabama
2014 – Alabama
2015 – LSU
Women's golf :
1985 – Florida
1986 – Florida
2001 – Georgia
2012 − Alabama
Women's gymnastics :
1982 – Florida
1987 – Georgia
1988 – Alabama
1989 – Georgia
1991 – Alabama
1993 – Georgia
1996 – Alabama
1998 – Georgia
1999 – Georgia
2002 – Alabama
2005 – Georgia
2006 – Georgia
2007 – Georgia
2008 – Georgia
2009 – Georgia
2011 – Alabama
2012 – Alabama
2013 – Florida
2014 – Florida
2015 – Florida
Rifle :
2011 – Kentucky
2018 – Kentucky
Women's soccer :
1998 – Florida
Softball :
1982 – Texas A&M *
1983 – Texas A&M*
1987 – Texas A&M*
2012 – Alabama
2014 – Florida
2015 – Florida
Men's swimming :
1978 – Tennessee
1983 – Florida
1984 – Florida
1997 – Auburn
1999 – Auburn
2003 – Auburn
2004 – Auburn
2005 – Auburn
2006 – Auburn
2007 – Auburn
2009 – Auburn
Women's swimming :
1979 – Florida
1982 – Florida
1999 – Georgia
2000 – Georgia
2001 – Georgia
2002 – Auburn
2003 – Auburn
2004 – Auburn
2005 – Georgia
2006 – Auburn
2007 – Auburn
2010 – Florida
2013 – Georgia
2014 – Georgia
2016 – Georgia
Men's tennis :
1985 – Georgia
1987 – Georgia
1999 – Georgia
2001 – Georgia
2007 – Georgia
2008 – Georgia
Women's tennis :
1992 – Florida
1994 – Georgia
1996 – Florida
1998 – Florida
2000 – Georgia
2003 – Florida
2011 – Florida
2012 − Florida
2015 – Vanderbilt
2017 – Florida
Men's indoor track :
1965 – Missouri*
1984 – Arkansas*
1985 – Arkansas*
1986 – Arkansas*
1987 – Arkansas*
1988 – Arkansas*
1989 – Arkansas*
1990 – Arkansas*
1991 – Arkansas*
1992 – Arkansas*
1993 – Arkansas
1994 – Arkansas
1995 – Arkansas
1997 – Arkansas
1998 – Arkansas
1999 – Arkansas
2000 – Arkansas
2001 – LSU
2002 – Tennessee
2003 – Arkansas
2004 – LSU
2005 – Arkansas
2006 – Arkansas
2010 – Florida
2011 – Florida
2012 − Florida
2013 – Arkansas
2017 – Texas A&M
2018 – Florida
Women's indoor track :
1987 – LSU
1989 – LSU
1991 – LSU
1992 – Florida
1993 – LSU
1994 – LSU
1995 – LSU
1996 – LSU
1997 – LSU
2002 – LSU
2003 – LSU
2004 – LSU
2005 – Tennessee
2009 – Tennessee
2015 – Arkansas
2018 – Georgia
2019 - Arkansas
Men's outdoor track :
1933 – LSU
1974 – Tennessee
1985 – Arkansas*
1989 – LSU
1990 – LSU
1991 – Tennessee
1992 – Arkansas*
1993 – Arkansas
1994 – Arkansas
1995 – Arkansas
1996 – Arkansas
1997 – Arkansas
1998 – Arkansas
1999 – Arkansas
2001 – Tennessee
2002 – LSU
2003 – Arkansas
2009 – Texas A&M*
2010 – Texas A&M*
2011 – Texas A&M*
2012 − Florida
2013 − Florida / Texas A&M
2016 − Florida
2017 − Florida
Women's outdoor track :
1981 – Tennessee
1987 – LSU
1988 – LSU
1989 – LSU
1990 – LSU
1991 – LSU
1992 – LSU
1993 – LSU
1994 – LSU
1995 – LSU
1996 – LSU
1997 – LSU
2000 – LSU
2002 – South Carolina
2003 – LSU
2006 – Auburn
2008 – LSU
2009 – Texas A&M*
2010 – Texas A&M*
2011 – Texas A&M*
2014 – Texas A&M
2016 - Arkansas
2019 - Arkansas
- 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
- Arkansas - 48
- LSU - 47
- Florida – 38
- Georgia – 32
- Alabama – 27
- Tennessee – 22
- Auburn – 18
- Texas A&M – 16
- Kentucky – 12
- Vanderbilt – 5
- South Carolina – 4
- Mississippi – 3
- Missouri – 2
- Mississippi State – 0
NCAA and AIAW national tournament team titles won by current SEC institutions
- Arkansas – 46
- LSU – 44
- Florida – 37
- Georgia – 29
- Tennessee – 17
- Auburn – 14
- Texas A&M – 12
- Kentucky – 11
- Alabama – 10
- Vanderbilt – 4
- South Carolina – 3
- Missouri – 2
- Mississippi – 0
- Mississippi State – 0
Television and radio contracts
ESPN reported paying $2.25 billion for broadcast rights of SEC football games beginning in the 2009 season and running through fiscal year 2025.
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.
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. 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 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 Networkwhose football games kickoff at 12:21 ET.
The currently scheduled Fox Sports Net games are set for 7:00 ET.
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.
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.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 to display the SEC's events.
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.
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. 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 CarolinaThe 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.