The SEC has traditionally been seen as a football conference, but these last two seasons, the power has shifted from football to basketball. Last season's National Champion, Florida, is now a 1-seed and one of the favorites to win it all again this year. In contrast, the SEC has not had a national champion since 2023's Georgia. And with day 1 of March Madness now in the books, and day 2 getting ready to ramp up, let's look at how the SEC has done so far.
SEC basketball in March Madness
The SEC was seen as the second-best conference all year long, trailing the Big 12 in the metrics. And I get that, the Big 12 was elite with Arizona, Kansas, Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Houston leading a deep conference.
There were 10 SEC teams selected to participate in March Madness, with Texas being forced to play in the First Four in Dayton. And from the looks of how the SEC teams are doing, they may again be the best basketball conference.
Texas 68, NC State 66
Tramon Mark hit the first game-winner of March Madness when he rose up and gave the Longhorns the lead with just 1 second left. A dejected Will Wade told everyone that this would be his worst team at NC State. But the Longhorns moved on.
Vanderbilt 78, McNeese State 68
Speaking of Will Wade, his old team took an early 11-point lead against the Commodores, but Vandy fought back to take a 3-point halftime lead. The Dores finished off the dreaded 5-12 game with relative ease.
Arkansas 97, Hawaii 78
John Calipari has had his share of early exits over the last 5 years, but the Razorbacks wasted no time taking care of Hawaii. Arkansas was up 18 at half and cruised to a victory. Darius Acuff had 24, leading 5 Razorbacks in double figures.
Texas 79, BYU 71
AJ Dybantsa did all he could with 35 and 10, but the injuries were too much for the Cougars to overcome. It wasn't easy, but Sean Miller got his team a 2nd March Madness win in his first year in Austin. Matas Vokietaitis was outstanding, finishing with 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Texas A&M 63, St. Mary's 50
Bucky Ball is rolling into the second round with a pretty dominant day against the Gaels. There was a little scuffle at the end with Rylan Griffen barking at the St. Mary's bench before being grabbed by Paulius Murauskas, who was sick before tip-off and had just 4 points (18 average).
Georgia 102, Saint Louis 77
The SEC was absolutely rolling, that is, until Georgia took the court against Saint Louis. I saw this one coming a mile away. Saint Louis had a rough close to the season, going just 4-4, but look at their stats. They are the only team in college basketball to be top 5 in effective field goal percentage and defensive field goal percentage.
That means they play efficient offense and tough defense. Georgia is a team that is built on volume shooting and athleticism. That shooting was ice cold, and Saint Louis used it to absolutely rout Georgia. Saint Louis shot 58% from the floor while Georgia was only able to muster 35%.
SEC record in March Madness, so far: 5-1
SEC still has more teams to come tomorrow, including Kentucky
Kentucky kicks things off tomorrow with the upset alert of the 1st round against Santa Clara. Then, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri try to finish off what has been a great day 1 for the SEC.
SEC Matchups Friday March 20th
(7) Kentucky vs. (10) Santa Clara- 12:15 PM, CBS
(4) Alabama vs. (13) Hofstra- 3:15 PM, truTV
(6) Tennessee vs. (11) Miami (OH)- 4:25 PM, TBS
(1) Florida vs. (16) Prairie View A&M- 9:25 PM, TNT
(7) Miami (FL) vs. (10) Missouri- 10:10 PM, truTV