SEC made NCAA Tournament history, but its performance from here will be defining

New York Times

17-03-2025

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The SEC got 14 of its 16 teams into the NCAA Tournament, three bids more than the previous record, with two No. 1 seeds, two No. 2 seeds and six top-four seeds, also a record.
In other words, the NCAA selection committee just echoed what people who cover the sport have been saying since December: This is the most dominant men's basketball league we've seen in years, decades, maybe ever.
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Now the NCAA Tournament will confirm or deny that as historical fact.
Don't blow it, SEC. Here's how you avoid that: Get six in the Sweet 16, three in the Elite Eight, two in the Final Four and one team cutting nets on April 7 in San Antonio as the SEC's first champion since Kentucky in 2012. That's all. Actually, if you produce the champion, one in the Final Four will do. See, even easier.
Some might dispute the idea that three weeks of basketball known for its zaniness could undo or invalidate the excellence that very much happened from November until now. But that's not the point. The regular season has sent expectations soaring, and a league that has been underperforming in this event despite an overall renaissance of late needs to respond.
Otherwise, that success is reduced to a statistical barometer and the 2024-25 SEC becomes the best example of regular-season results not translating when it matters most. The NCAA Tournament gets coaches hired and fired, immortalizes players and defines teams and leagues.
College hoops preconference tourneys are the best thing available during Thanksgiving TV sports feasting. The sport's iconic arenas produce unrivaled environments. League races are often epic and always mean so much to the coaches and players engaging them. Even those of us who appreciate those things, and welcome millions to the discussion this week, understand they're joining because this is what it's all about.
Over 20% of the field is from the @SEC. 🤯
The all-time greatest regular season by any conference in college basketball history.@MarchMadnessMBB x #ItJustMeansMore pic.twitter.com/QVAmSorkTW
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) March 17, 2025
So it's time for the SEC to make more like the 1984-85 Big East — three Final Four teams and the champ — than the 1983-84 ACC. People still talk about that Big East season, and not just because this is the 40th anniversary and St. John's has people reminiscing about Lou Carnesecca and Chris Mullin. That team lost in the Final Four to John Thompson, Patrick Ewing and Georgetown, which lost one of the all-time shockers to Rollie Massimino and No. 8 seed Villanova in the title game.
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But that league wasn't nearly as dominant all season as the 1983-84 ACC, which won more than 89 percent of its nonleague games. The closest since was the SEC this season, at 88.9 percent. So what do people remember about that ACC season? Probably Michael Jordan and North Carolina losing to Indiana in the Sweet 16. Which was part of an underwhelming 8-5 record for the league, including Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils (Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, Jay Bilas) falling in an early upset as a No. 3 seed.
Even Virginia making a surprise Final Four run as a No. 7 seed, the year after all-time great Ralph Sampson departed, couldn't offset the overall disappointment. That's not to say the SEC should not sniff at the idea of a Final Four team — it has had just three in the past decade. Produce a champion amid disappointments elsewhere in this field and you can't really be that upset, right?
The 2011 Big East, the previous record holder with 11 bids, largely flamed out, but Kemba Walker and UConn walked away with the title. The haters could only say so much.
Florida is the SEC's best bet to do that this season. Based on what I saw in Nashville over the weekend, I'd call Florida the best bet from any league to do that. The West Regional No. 1 seed could get a serious frontcourt challenge from No. 4 seed Maryland in the Sweet 16. The St. John's defense against this Florida offense is a Final Four-level possibility in the Elite Eight. But it's going to take something special to eliminate the Gators at their current level of play.
No. 1 overall seed Auburn can do it, too. Of course Auburn can, despite three losses in four games. Bruce Pearl's team is prone to chaos and swings of emotion. It is banged up. It has one of this tournament's all-time best coaches, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, lurking as the No. 2 seed. Shoot, the possibility of resurgent Louisville in the round of 32 in Lexington, Ky., is a bit chilling.
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But the Tigers didn't build the best resume in the sport this season on smoke and mirrors. They did it behind potential national player of the year Johni Broome and weapons all around him. They might just find their exit from nightly SEC competition liberating.
That's the hope, right? That the SEC will have these teams prepared, and not too beaten down, to excel.
'You hope so, you really do,' Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, whose Midwest No. 2 seed Vols are capable of beating No. 1 seed Houston and reaching the first Final Four in school history, said Sunday after they fell 86-77 to the Gators in the SEC title game.
'It's either going to tear you to shreds or it's going to make you better,' Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. 'I think (every) team is going to decide which is going to be their path.'
His team, No. 3 in the Midwest and a potential Sweet 16 challenger to the Vols, lost starting guard Jaxson Robinson for the season to a wrist injury during SEC play and has another starting guard, Lamont Butler, in and out with a bum shoulder. A run of health for Butler could mean a run for the Cats.
East No. 2 seed Alabama is good enough to reach the program's second Final Four in two years, good enough to take out No. 1 seed Duke at its best. Will it be at its best? Starting forward Grant Nelson's sore knee will help tell that story. All around the SEC, the toll of the SEC is apparent.
'It's not called the NBA South for no reason,' Missouri guard Tamar Bates said, and Arkansas coach John Calipari called it a 'meat grinder.' Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington, who got the Commodores into the field in his first season after an eight-year drought, said, 'The mental part of this league is probably the most difficult.'
'I do think what's transpiring is historic,' said Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams, whose team is the No. 4 seed in the South and, yes, capable of doing damage. 'And I don't think that when you're living in it you're clapping (like) a fan or as a media member going, 'This is really cool.' I think you're trying to figure out how to not suffocate yourself from the burden that you feel (on each possession).'
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That's an NCAA Tournament staple. Which favors the idea of preparation. Watching the Vols and Gators play a third game in three days and knock each other all over the floor Sunday, physical pain came to mind.
Pressure is inherent but enhanced if any of these teams think of the flag they're supposed to be carrying. Players on the teams certainly got enough questions about it in Nashville. The SEC's records set Sunday include 87.5 percent of its teams invited to the NCAA Tournament. The league's emphasis and financial investment over the past several years have led to this.
They have not yet led to any significant March success, though. Per JBR Bracketology, the SEC has had 22 bids in the past three years and 30.56 expected wins. It has 22 wins and one Final Four to match, by far the worst performance of the power leagues relative to expectations.
Now we find out what happens with better, older teams, having demonstrated emphatic superiority over other leagues, followed by 10 weeks of sledgehammering each other.
'I think nobody will know until we see,' said Ole Miss coach Chris Beard, whose team is No. 6 in the South and, well, you know the drill. 'We'll see what happens, if this league produces second-weekend teams, third-weekend teams, has a couple teams in the Final Four. It will be interesting to see. (As) a basketball fan, I pay attention to that, too.'
Yes, it's the story of the tournament. And if the SEC doesn't get it done, sorry, but being too good doesn't work as an excuse.
(Photo of Bruce Pearl: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)