GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – JANUARY 04: Trey Bonham #2 of the Florida Gators shoots the ball during the second half of a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on January 04, 2023 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
The SEC set a record with 14 teams getting into the field of 68 in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament! 14! There are 16 teams in the SEC. Regular season champion Auburn, led by Bruce Pearl is the overall number one seed. Florida, the hottest team in the county the last two months is in and gets a top seed. High scoring Alabama is in. SEC Tournament runner up Tennessee is in. Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, led by John Calipari and Mississippi State are all in. As are Georgia, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Texas.
In fact, Oklahoma and Texas made it despite 6-12 conference records. Only LSU and South Carolina failed to make the tournament. Oh well, there is always football season for them.
SEC SET A RECORD!
SEC set a record. Auburn earned their over all number one seed by finishing with a 28-5 record as they faced the second toughest schedule in the country this year. That difficulty was enhanced by their SEC schedule in a conference that had seven teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
Florida landed a region number one seed by capping its amazing season with a SEC Tournament championship by beating Tennessee Sunday afternoon. Duke and Houston got the other two top seeds.
All the Madness begins Tuesday with the "play in games," or the First Four as the tourney likes to say. St. Francis faces Alabama State and North Carolina plays San Diego State Tuesday. Wednesday's slate has Xavier vs Texas and Mt. St. Mary's vs American.
SEC Set a Record: For full coverage of all 14 SEC teams and the entire NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament tune in each weekday to Craig Shemon and Company from 2-6pm on ESPN Southwest Florida. Also, check our listings as we will be airing play-by-play of the tournament throughout March and April.
