Highlight: No. 14 Alabama drops 102 on Yale, on to conference play (0:57)Aden Holloway leads the charge with 26 points as five players reach double figures for the Tide in a 102-78 win over the Bulldogs. (0:57)
Joe LunardiJan 3, 2026, 08:00 AM ETClose Resident college basketball bracketologist for ESPN Contributor to SportsCenter, ESPN Insider Published first public bracket in 1995Follow on X
I am old enough to remember when the SEC managed only three NCAA bids three times in a four-year span (2013-2016). Old enough to remember it being the No. 7 conference, just decimal points ahead of the Atlantic 10, in 2012-13. Even old enough to remember when Missouri and Texas A&M, not to mention Texas and Oklahoma, were in the Big 12.
So while last season’s monumental 14 bids were a bit of a perfect storm, the SEC’s basketball fortunes had been trending upward for some time. It’s why the league’s bid average has climbed above even the 18-team Big Ten since the COVID interruption of 2020. The hoops have gotten so good in the SEC that its gridiron performance is an afterthought (wink, wink …).
What the conference can’t possibly repeat, however, are its double 1-seeds, double 2-seeds and twin Final Four entries (Auburn and national champion Florida) of 2025. That kind of dominance is unsustainable, leaving us with an SEC that is simply excellent instead of generational. It’s also not a bad place to land the plane.
The SEC will be hard-pressed to field one Final Four entrant, much less repeat its double dip of last season. However, its leading candidate being Vanderbilt is an equally good story.
A year ago, LSU (14-18, 3-15 conference) was one of the SEC’s two misses. A likely must-win year for Matt McMahon has produced a 12-1 nonconference slate so far — albeit against a sub-250 schedule. The Tigers’ “real” season begins today at fellow bubbler Texas A&M.
Georgia lost its NBA first-rounder Asa Newell but is right back in the thick of things for an NCAA bid. The Bulldogs, like LSU, went 12-1 nonconference, with wins over Georgia Tech, Xavier, Florida State and Cincinnati that are solid, if unspectacular. A .500 league record should be enough for an NCAA return date.
Both have underachieved a bit, relative to preseason polling, and will have a difficult time posting the necessary SEC record to dance.
The 6-seed Gamecocks of 2024 (26-8, 13-5 SEC) are looking like an outlier. As for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs had nonconference opportunities but could not close the deal when it counted.
Highlight: No. 14 Alabama drops 102 on Yale, on to conference play (0:57)Aden Holloway leads the charge with 26 points as five players reach double figures for the Tide in a 102-78 win over the Bulldogs. (0:57)
Aden Holloway leads the charge with 26 points as five players reach double figures for the Tide in a 102-78 win over the Bulldogs. (0:57)
Jan. 7: Alabama at Vanderbilt, an early SEC showdown that could set the tone for the conference race.
Jan. 24: Auburn at Florida, a Final Four rematch, which the Gators could use to propel them to a repeat.
Tennessee Volunteers Arkansas Razorbacks Florida Gators Auburn Tigers Kentucky Wildcats
LSU Tigers Oklahoma Sooners Texas Longhorns Texas A&M Aggies
Mississippi State Bulldogs South Carolina Gamecocks
Close Resident college basketball bracketologist for ESPN Contributor to SportsCenter, ESPN Insider Published first public bracket in 1995Follow on X