No shortage of star power in SEC Tournament. What I’ll be watching | Adams

If not for last season, national analysts would be chattering about how great SEC basketball is as we edge closer to the NCAA Tournament. But 2024-25 was an impossibly difficult act to follow.

The SEC placed 14 teams in last year’s NCAA Tournament. That wasn’t just historic for the conference. No other league has ever had such a presence in March Madness.

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From that 14-team start to Florida’s national championship finish, the SEC stole the show. Not bad for a football conference.

In fact, the SEC is now better in basketball than football. It’s also better in baseball and softball, but that’s a story for May and June.

The conference’s basketball resurgence will be on full display when the SEC Tournament begins March 11 at Bridgestone Arena.

No matter what happens, 14 teams won’t leave Nashville with an NCAA berth assured. However, it’s not farfetched to think 10 teams – maybe even 11 if things broke the right way − could qualify for the tournament that matters most.

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The league isn’t 2024-25 strong, but it’s strong enough that first-year Auburn coach Steven Pearl is touting his 16-15 team as NCAA Tournament worthy. That’s wishful thinking since the Tigers have lost eight of their past 10 games.

Strength of schedule is in their favor. A beefed-up nonconference scheduled included Houston, Arizona, Michigan, Purdue and St. John’s.

Unfortunately, Auburn too often was overmatched against top 10 opponents. Michigan beat it by 30 points, Arizona won by 29, and Purdue was 28 points better.

Nonetheless, it’s a testament to the SEC’s basketball growth that the coach of a 15-loss team can make a passionate plea why his team deserves to be in the Big Dance.

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To Auburn’s credit, it beat Florida by nine points in Gainesville in late January. That win looked even better six weeks later after the Gators won 11 consecutive games on their way to the SEC regular-season championship.

Florida’s surge wasn’t surprising. Oklahoma’s…

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Publish date : 2026-03-10 09:08:00

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