The Southeastern Conference
Throughout the history of men's college basketball, the Southeastern Conference has captured 11 NCAA Championships and four NIT titles, making the SEC one of the nation's top basketball conferences.
Individual Success
- Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe was named the 2022 National Player of the Year by virtually every outlet, joining the likes of Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal and Anthony Davis as SEC players who have won national player of the year awards.
- Auburn's Jabari Smith earned 2022 National Freshman of the Year awards from the USBWA and NABC, joining Chris Jackson, John Wall, Anthony Davis and Ben Simmons as SEC players who have been named national freshman of the year.
- Four players earned All-America honors from the Associated Press in 2022: Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (1st team), Auburn's Jabari Smith (2nd team), Arkansas' JD Notae (3rd team) and LSU's Tari Eason (honorable mention).
- 50 SEC players have been selected in the last five NBA Drafts. That leads all conferences: 45 ACC, 33 Big Ten, 33 Pac-12, 25 Big 12 and 14 Big East.
- 28 SEC players have been selected in the first round of the last five NBA Drafts. That ranks as the second-most in the nation: ACC 29, Pac-12 18, Big 12 14 and Big Ten 11.
- 14 NBA Draft Lottery picks in the last five years are the most in the nation, ahead of ACC 13, Big 12 nine, Big Ten eight, Pac-12 six.
- Six No. 1 overall NBA Draft picks since 2010, including Georgia's Anthony Edwards in 2020.
- 12 NBA Draft picks in 2021, 2020 and 2019.
- Seven first round NBA Draft picks in 2021.
- 76 players from SEC schools were on 2021-22 NBA Opening Day rosters. All 14 SEC schools were represented and at least one SEC player was on 29 of 30 NBA rosters.
- Nine former SEC players from six different schools were on the rosters of the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals. That was more than double the total of any other conference.
- Four players from SEC schools named 2022 NBA All-Stars: Devin Booker (UK/Phoenix); Darius Garland (VU/Cleveland); Khris Middleton (AM/Milwaukee) and Karl-Anthony Towns (UK/Minnesota).
- Five former SEC played were named 2021 NBA All-Stars. Bradley Beal (UF/Washington) was named a starter while Anthony Davis (UK/Los Angeles Lakers), Julius Randle (UK/New York) and Ben Simmons (LS/Philadelphia) were named reserves. Devin Booker (UK/Phoenix) was added to the roster by Adam Silver.
- Four players from SEC schools – Bam Adebayo (UK), Devin Booker (UK), Keldon Johnson (UK) and Khris Middleton (AM) - were members of the USA Basketball's gold medal winning teams at the Tokyo Olympics.
- Six players from SEC schools were named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team: Charles Barkley, Auburn; Anthony Davis, Kentucky; Pete Maravich, LSU; Shaquille O'Neal, LSU; Bob Pettit, LSU; Dominique Wilkins, Georgia.
Team Success
- 27 NCAA Tournament selections over the last three tournaments.
- Eight NCAA Tournament selections in 2018 are the most in league history.
- 78-49 (60.5 percent) in the NCAA Tournament since 2012 (10-3 in 2012, 4-3 in 2013, 12-3 in 2014, 6-5 in 2015, 3-3 in 2016, 11-5 in 2017, 8-8 in 2018, 12-7 in 2019, 7-6 in 2021 and 5-6 in 2022).
- 14 of 14 SEC teams have made at least one NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven tournaments.
- The SEC has had at least one team advance to the Sweet 16 in 31 of the last 32 tournaments.
- Nine different SEC teams have advanced to the Sweet 16 in the last five NCAA Tournaments. All 14 SEC members have advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1996.
- The SEC has advanced at least one team to the Elite Eight in nine of the last 12 tournaments.
- The SEC has advanced a team in the Final Four six of the last 11 tournaments.
- Eight different SEC teams (Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina) have appeared in the Final Four.
- The SEC won the ninth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge by winning six of the 10 games on January 29, 2022. It is the second year in a row the SEC won the Challenge. The SEC has lost the Challenge just one time in the last six years.
- Four coaches enter the 2022-23 season ranking among the winningest active coaches in the nation: John Calipari (4th with 768 wins), Rick Barnes (6th with 754 wins), Bruce Pearl (15th with 626 wins) and Kermit Davis (29th with 467 wins).
- Three coaches have been named national coach of the year: Bruce Pearl, John Calipari and Rick Barnes.
Success Off the Court
- LSU's Skylar Mays was named the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year. He was a two-time first team CoSIDA Academic All-America (2019 and 2020).
- 81 men's basketball students were named to the 2021-22 SEC Academic Honor Rolls for having a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year or a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above.
- 31 men's basketball student-athletes wore the SEC Graduate patch on their uniforms in 2021-22.
- Three Men's Basketball Academic All-America of the Year hail from the SEC: Alec Kessler, UG (1989 & 1990); Bruce Elder, VU (1993), Matt Bonner, UF (2002 & 2003), Canyon Berry, UF (2017) and Skylar Mays, LS (2020).
- The Men's Basketball Leadership Council is one component of the SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council. The others are the Women's Basketball Leadership Council and the Football Leadership Council. The student-athletes who comprise the SEC Men's Basketball Leadership Council are: Adam Cottrell, Alabama; Cade Arbogast, Arkansas; Babatunde Akingbola, Auburn; Kowacie Reeves, Florida; Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Georgia; Brennan Canada, Kentucky; Justice Hill, LSU; Matthew Murrell, Ole Miss; Isaac Stansbury, Mississippi State; Kobe Brown, Missouri; Chico Carter Jr., South Carolina; Jahmai Mashack, Tennessee; Henry Coleman III, Texas A&M; Quentin Millora-Brown, Vanderbilt.
Student-Athlete Development And Achievement
- LSU's Skylar Mays was named the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year. He was a two-time first team CoSIDA Academic All-America (2019 and 2020).
- 101 men's basketball students were named to the 2020-21 SEC Academic Honor Rolls for having a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year or a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above.
- 20 men's basketball student-athletes wore the SEC Graduate patch on their uniforms in 2020-21.
- Three Men's Basketball Academic All-America of the Year hail from the SEC: Alec Kessler, UG (1989 & 1990); Bruce Elder, VU (1993), Matt Bonner, UF (2002 & 2003), Canyon Berry, UF (2017) and Skylar Mays, LS (2020).
- The Men's Basketball Leadership Council is one component of the SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council. The others are the Women's Basketball Leadership Council and the Football Leadership Council. The student-athletes who comprise the SEC Men's Basketball Leadership Council are: Tyler Barnes, Alabama; Stanley Umude, Arkansas; Babatunde Akingbola, Auburn; Anthony Duruji, Florida; Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Georgia; Keion Brooks, Kentucky; Spencer Mays, LSU; Austin Crowley, Ole Miss; Iverson Molinar, Mississippi State; Javon Pickett, Missouri; Chico Carter, South Carolina; John Fulkerson, Tennessee; Henry Coleman III, Texas A&M; Quentin Millora-Brown, Vanderbilt.
The 2022-23 SEC Tournament
Nashville, Tenn. | March 8-12 | Bridgestone Arena
The winner of the 13-game SEC Men's Basketball Tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament seeds are determined by the 18-game conference schedule during the regular season. Teams are seeded 1-14 based on their regular season conference finish.
The 2023 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament returns to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. It will be the ninth time that the arena has served as the host of the SEC Tournament, having also hosted in 2001, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Also the home of the NHL's Nashville Predators, Bridgestone Arena has the distinction of being one of the busiest venues in the Unites States over the past decade and a half, hosting more than 18 million guests during that time. Seating capacity is approximately 19,395 for basketball games.
The event has helped set the stage for SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament, as 27 of the tournament champions since the tournament resumed in 1979 have advanced to at least the Sweet 16. Twenty of those teams have gone on to the Elite Eight, 12 to the Final Four and three have been crowned national champion. Six of the last 15 SEC Tournament champions have advanced to the Final Four with three of those teams winning a national championship. The SEC Tournament Champion has failed to win at least one NCAA Tournament game only four times.
Kentucky leads the league with 31 SEC Tournament titles. Alabama is second with seven, with Tennessee in third with five. Florida is fourth with four championship trophies followed by Mississippi State with three, while Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt have two. Arkansas, LSU and former league member Georgia Tech have each won one SEC Tournament championship.
