Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference
(SEC)
Southeastern Conference logo
Established 1933
Association NCAA
Division Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Members 12
Sports fielded 20[1] (men's: 9; women's: 11)
Region Southern United States
Headquarters Birmingham, Alabama
Commissioner Michael Slive (since 2002)
Website http://www.secsports.com/
Locations
Southeastern Conference locations

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a college athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which operates in the southeastern part of the United States. The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in athletic competitions; for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A). The conference is one of the most successful financially, consistently leading most conferences in revenue distribution to its members, including an SEC record $209.0 million for the 2009–2010 fiscal year.[2]

The SEC was also the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a championship game (and award a subsequent title) for college football, and was one of the founding members of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The current SEC commissioner is Michael Slive.[3]

Contents

History

Locations of current SEC full member institutions.

The SEC was established on December 8 and 9, 1932, when the 13 members of the Southern Conference located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains left to form their own conference. Ten of the 13 founding members have remained in the conference since its inception: the universities of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi ("Ole Miss") and Tennessee; and Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt universities.

The other charter members were:

1991 expansion

In 1991, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of:

The two new teams joined for the 1991–1992 basketball season. At the same time, the SEC split into two divisions—a Western Division comprising most of the schools in the Central Time Zone, and an Eastern Division comprising the schools in the Eastern Time Zone plus Vanderbilt (which is located in the Central Time Zone, but is in the Eastern Division to preserve its rivalry with Tennessee). This divisional format remains in place today.

Also in 1992, the SEC was the first conference to receive permission from the NCAA to sponsor an annual football championship game, featuring the winners of the conference's Eastern and Western divisions.[4] The 1992 and 1993 SEC Championships were held at Birmingham's Legion Field, and have since been held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.[4]

Membership timeline

University of South Carolina University of Arkansas Vanderbilt University University of Tennessee Mississippi State University University of Mississippi Louisiana State University University of Kentucky University of Georgia University of Florida Auburn University University of Alabama Tulane University Georgia Institute of Technology Sewanee: The University of the South

Television and radio contracts

The SEC televises football games across various networks during the fall. SEC coverage is primarily provided by CBS and the ESPN family of networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ABC. Fox Sports Net also has rights to air seven live football games over the course of the season.[5]

ESPN reported paying $2.25 billion for broadcast rights of SEC football games beginning in the 2009 season and running through the fiscal year 2025.[6]

Games scheduled for airing are generally picked two weeks before they occur, with a few matches that are selected by CBS and ESPN prior to the season.

CBS has the first pick for a game and selects the highest-profile game to broadcast to a national, over-the-air audience. The CBS game is usually broadcast at 3:30 eastern time. Some weekends, CBS will air a doubleheader of SEC games.[7] CBS also has the rights for the SEC Championship Game.

ESPN will air several SEC games each week among its various channels, with Saturday time slots generally at 12:00 ET, 7:00 ET, and 7:45 ET, and some SEC games will be shown on Thursday nights. In previous years, Raycom Sports (formerly Lincoln Financial and Jefferson Pilot) offered regional coverage for an SEC game of the week at 12:30 ET, but the new ESPN contract eliminated Raycom's live coverage of SEC games. Instead, beginning in 2009, games at this midday time slot will kickoff at 12:21 ET, aired by the newly branded SEC Network.[8] SEC Network is not a standalone channel; its games will be aired on various stations syndicated through ESPN Regional TV.

The currently scheduled Fox Sports Net games are set for 7:00 ET.[9]

For games not selected by any broadcast provider, certain schools may offer regional pay-per-view.

As of 2008, all SEC schools are affiliated with XM Radio, offering their radio broadcasts to an audience on XM. According to SiriusXM, the SEC will not be included as part of the "Best of XM" package deal for Sirius customers.

2008 television contract

During the 2007–2008 fiscal year review meeting, there was discussion among SEC leadership about the possibility of starting a TV network dedicated to its conference, much in the same way the Mountain West Conference and Big Ten Conference have done with the mtn. and Big Ten Networks, respectively. A decision was made to postpone the decision until at least the following year.[10]

In August 2008, the SEC announced an unprecedented 15-year television contract with CBS worth an estimated $55 million a year. This will continue the relationship the SEC already has with CBS, which puts the SEC in the unique position as the only conference to have its own exclusive national television network of the big three networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC) to display the SEC's events.[4]

In the same month, the league also announced another landmark television contract with ESPN worth $2.25 billion or $150 million a year for the life of the contract, which is for fifteen years. It is the longest and wealthiest contract among all television deals among the major conferences. With these contracts, the SEC has, outside the Big Ten, the richest television deals in the country and will make the SEC the most nationally televised and visible conference in the country with the coverage that is provided by these contracts.[11][12]

Commissioners

This 75th anniversary logo was used during the 2007–2008 athletic season.

The office of Commissioner was created in 1940.[13]

Years Commissioners
1940–1946 Martin S. Conner
1946 N.W. Dougherty (acting)
1948–1966 Bernie Moore
1966–1972 A. M. "Tonto" Coleman
1972–1986 H. Boyd McWhorter
1986–1989 Harvey W. Schiller
1990–2002 Roy F. Kramer
2002–present Michael Slive

Current members

The SEC currently has twelve member institutions in nine Southeastern states.[14] The geographic domain of the conference stretches from Arkansas to South Carolina (west to east) and from Kentucky to Florida (north to south).

The conference is divided into two geographic divisions: the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The twelve current members of the Southeastern Conference are:

Institution Location
(Population)		 Founded Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined Nickname Mascot
Eastern Division
University of Florida
(114,916)		 1853 Public 51,474 1932 Gators Albert and Alberta
University of Georgia
(113,398)		 1785 Public 35,520 1932 Bulldogs Hairy Dawg, Uga
University of Kentucky
(282,114)		 1865 Public 26,054 1932 Wildcats The Wildcat, Scratch, Blue (live bobcat)
University of South Carolina
(127,029)		 1801 Public 28,481 1991 Gamecocks Cocky, Sir Big Spur (live rooster)
University of Tennessee
(184,802)		 1794 Public 27,107 1932 Volunteers Smokey
Vanderbilt University
(596,462)		 1873 Private
(Nonsectarian)		 12,093 1932 Commodores Mr. C
Western Division
University of Alabama
(90,221)		 1831 Public 28,807 1932 Crimson Tide Big Al
University of Arkansas
(73,372)		 1871 Public 19,849 1991 Razorbacks Big Red, Boss Hog, Sue E., Pork Chop, Tusk
Auburn University
(56,088)		 1856 Public 24,530 1932 Tigers Aubie, War Eagle VII
Louisiana State University
(223,689)		 1860 Public 28,810 1932 Tigers Mike the Tiger
Mississippi State University
(24,187)		 1878 Public 18,534 1932 Bulldogs Bully
University of Mississippi
(19,000)		 1848 Public 18,344 1932 Rebels Colonel Reb (unofficial)

Sports

SEC Logo, 1992 to 2007

The Southeastern Conference sponsors championships in nine men's and ten women's sports.

Under SEC conference rules reflecting the large number of (male) scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX), each member institution is required to provide two more women's varsity sports than men's. The equivalent rule was recently adopted by the NCAA for all of Division I.[16]

While South Carolina and Kentucky field men's soccer teams, the conference does not sponsor the sport; both schools in 2005 joined Conference USA for the sport.[17] Florida and Vanderbilt both have women's lacrosse teams, and those teams compete in the single-sport American Lacrosse Conference.

Sports facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity
Eastern Division
Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium 88,548 Stephen C. O'Connell Center 12,000 McKethan Stadium 6,000
Georgia Sanford Stadium 92,746 Stegeman Coliseum 11,000 Foley Field 3,291
Kentucky Commonwealth Stadium 67,530 Rupp Arena (men)[7]
Memorial Coliseum (women)		 24,500
8,500		 Cliff Hagan Stadium 3,000
South Carolina Williams-Brice Stadium 80,250 Colonial Life Arena 18,000 Carolina Stadium 8,200
Tennessee Neyland Stadium 102,459 Thompson–Boling Arena 24,535 Lindsey Nelson Stadium 3,800
Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Stadium 39,790 Memorial Gymnasium 14,168 Hawkins Field 3,700
Western Division
Alabama Bryant–Denny Stadium[8] 101,821 Coleman Coliseum (men)
Foster Auditorium (women)		 15,316
5,400		 Sewell-Thomas Stadium 6,571
Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium (primary)
War Memorial Stadium (secondary)[9]		 76,000
53,727		 Bud Walton Arena 19,200 Baum Stadium 10,737
Auburn Jordan–Hare Stadium 87,451 Auburn Arena[10] 9,600 Plainsman Park 4,096
LSU Tiger Stadium 92,400 Pete Maravich Assembly Center 13,431 Alex Box Stadium 10,150
Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway Stadium 60,850 Tad Smith Coliseum 9,061 Swayze Field 10,000
Mississippi State Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field 55,082 Humphrey Coliseum 10,500 Dudy Noble Field 15,000

Football

Before expansion, each SEC school played six conference games. Five of these games were against permanent opponents, developing some traditional rivalries between schools, and the sixth game rotated around the other four members of the conference.

From 1992 through 2001, each team had two permanent inter-divisional opponents, allowing many traditional rivalries from the pre-expansion era (such as Florida vs. Auburn, Kentucky vs. LSU and Vanderbilt vs. Alabama) to continue. However, complaints from some league athletic directors about imbalance in the schedule (for instance, Auburn's two permanent opponents from the East were Florida and Georgia — two of the SEC's stronger football programs at the time — while Mississippi State played Kentucky and South Carolina every year) led to the SEC reducing the permanent opponents to only one per team.

Under the current format, each school plays a total of eight conference games, consisting of the other five teams in its division, two schools from the other division on a rotating basis, and one school from the other division that it plays each year. All permanent inter-divisional games, with the exception of Arkansas vs. South Carolina, were played annually before SEC expansion in 1992.[18]

The following table shows the permanent inter-divisional opponent for each school listed by total number of games played (records through the completion of the 2009 season with Western Division wins listed first)[19]:

Western Division Eastern Division Series Record
Auburn Georgia 53–52–8[20]
Alabama Tennessee 47–38–7[21]
Ole Miss Vanderbilt 46–35–2[22]
LSU Florida 23–29–3[23]
Mississippi State Kentucky 17–20[24]
Arkansas South Carolina 11–7[25]
Overall Inter-Divisional Record 197–181–21[26]

Other league athletic directors have advocated discarding the current format and adopting the one used by the Big 12 Conference, where teams play three teams from the opposite division on a home-and-home basis for two seasons, and then switch and play the other three teams from the opposite side for a two-year home-and-home. However, the potential loss of such heated (and profitable, as the games are often shown on national TV) long-standing rivalries as Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee, and LSU-Florida have scuttled such plans on the drawing board. The loss of the annual rivalry between Nebraska and Oklahoma has led some Big 12 athletic directors to make a push to adopt the SEC format for the Big 12. The Atlantic Coast Conference followed the SEC's lead and went one step further, adopting the permanent rival format for both football and basketball (in the latter sport each school is designated two rivals).

Interestingly, before the institution of divisional play, many of Auburn's yearly rivalries were with teams in the East (Florida, Georgia and Tennessee), while Tennessee's yearly rivalries were with teams in the West (Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss).

All-time school records

# SEC Records Win %
1 Alabama 813–316–43 71.20
2 Tennessee 783–333–53 69.25
3 Georgia 733–389–54 64.96
4 LSU 710–387–54 64.12
5 Florida 654–374–40 63.11
6 Auburn 696–400–47 62.95
7 Arkansas 657–451–40 58.97
8 Mississippi 615–468–35 56.83
9 Kentucky 567–558–44 50.38
10 South Carolina 535–535–44 50.00
11 Vanderbilt 556–557–50 49.96
12 Mississippi State 491–534–39 47.04

[27]

Championship Game

The logo for the 2009 SEC Championship Game. Alabama defeated Florida in the championship game.

The SEC Championship Game pits the SEC Western Division representative against the Eastern Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed. As of 2009, eight of the twelve SEC members have played in the Championship. Ole Miss is the only team from the SEC West to have not played in the SEC Championship Game, and Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and South Carolina have failed to play in the game from the SEC East.

The first two SEC Championship football games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Since 1994, the game has been played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The team designated as the "home" team alternates between division champions; the designation goes to the Eastern champion in even-numbered years and the Western champion in odd-numbered years. As of 2009, the Eastern division of the SEC leads the Western division in overall wins in the championship game 11 to 7.

Bowl games

The post-season bowl game tie-ins for the SEC for the 2010 season are:[28]

Pick Name Location Opposing Conference Opposing Pick
1 Sugar Bowl New Orleans, Louisiana BCS -
2 Capital One Bowl Orlando, Florida Big Ten 2
3/4 Outback Bowl Tampa, Florida Big Ten 3
3/4 Cotton Bowl Classic Arlington, Texas Big 12 2
5 Chick-fil-A Bowl Atlanta, Georgia ACC 2
6 Gator Bowl Jacksonville, Florida Big Ten 4/5
7/8 Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee C-USA -
7/8 Music City Bowl Nashville, Tennessee ACC 6
9 Birmingham Bowl Birmingham, Alabama Big East 5
Bowl selection procedures

If the SEC champion is selected to participate in the BCS National Championship Game, the Sugar Bowl is not required to pick the SEC runner-up but may select any eligible BCS team. However, since the BCS title game was moved to a standalone basis in 2007, the Sugar Bowl has selected an SEC team, and since 2008 has chosen the SEC runner-up (the 2007 Sugar Bowl featured LSU, who was not the SEC runner-up but was an eligible BCS team). However, since 2006, the Sugar Bowl has selected either a division runner-up (2006 LSU, 2007 Georgia) or conference runner-up (2008 Alabama, 2009 Florida), which has been the second highest ranked SEC team in the BCS standings.

Under SEC guidelines, unless the Sugar Bowl selects the SEC runner-up, the Capital One Bowl must then pick the SEC runner-up if that team has won two or more games than the next team in the selection order. The SEC runner-up has not played in the Capital One Bowl since Arkansas following the 2006 season.

After those selections, the Outback Bowl has the first choice of the remaining teams in the SEC East, and the Cotton Bowl Classic has the first choice of those left in the SEC West.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl and Gator Bowl pick afterwards.

The Liberty Bowl and Music City Bowl work together, along with the SEC office, to determine the seventh and eighth picks.

The Birmingham Bowl picks last. In the case that the SEC does not have nine bowl-eligible teams, a team from the Sun Belt will be selected instead.

At this point, the SEC is second in BCS Bowl appearances, with nineteen appearances, and first in all-time wins and winning percentage, with fourteen wins and a .722 winning percentage. The BCS Bowls include the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, and the BCS National Championship Game.

Since the advent of the BCS National Championship Game format, the SEC is a perfect 6–0 in those games. The SEC was 2–0 in the games where the National Championship Game was played as part of the traditional New Year's Day bowls, and since 2007 (when the game was moved to a separate contest one week later) the SEC has participated in all four games and has won all four. Interestingly, the SEC team was ranked #1 only twice going into the game (the first contest featuring Tennessee in 1998 and the most recent featuring Alabama in 2009); the other four times the SEC team (LSU twice and Florida twice) was ranked #2.

Rivalries

The SEC members have long histories. Some of the football rivalries involving SEC teams include:

Teams Rivalry Name Trophy Meetings[29] Record[29] Series leader Current Streak
Alabama Auburn Iron Bowl James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy 74[30] 40-33-1[30] Alabama Alabama Won 2[30]
LSU Alabama-LSU rivalry/The Saban Bowl — 73[31] 45-23-5[31] Alabama Alabama Won 2[31]
Ole Miss Alabama–Ole Miss rivalry — 56[32] 45-9-2[32] Alabama Alabama Won 5[32]
Tennessee Third Saturday in October — 91[21] 46-38-7[21] Alabama Alabama Won 3[21]
Arkansas LSU The Battle for the Golden Boot The Golden Boot[11] 54[33] 19-34-2[33] LSU LSU Won 1[33]
Texas[12] The Big Shootout — 77[34] 21-56[34] Texas Texas Won 2[34]
Texas A&M The Southwest Classic[13] — 66[35] 39-24-3[35] Arkansas Arkansas Won 1[35]
Auburn Georgia The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry — 113[20] 53-52-8[20] Auburn Georgia Won 4[20]
LSU The Tiger Bowl[14] — 43[36] 19-23-1[36] LSU LSU Won 2[36]
Florida Florida State Florida–Florida State rivalry The Governor's Cup 53[37] 32-19-2[37] Florida Florida Won 5[37]
Miami Battle for the Seminole War Canoe The War Canoe Trophy[15] 54[38] 26-28[38] Miami Florida Won 1[38]
Georgia The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party[16] Okefenokee Oar 87[39] 39-46-2[39] Georgia Florida Won 2[39]
Tennessee Third Saturday in September — 39[40] 20-19[40] Florida Florida Won 5[40]
Georgia Georgia Tech Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate The Governor's Cup 104[41] 60-39-5[41] Georgia Georgia Won 1[41]
Kentucky Indiana Kentucky–Indiana rivalry —[17] 36[42] 17-18-1[42] Indiana Indiana Won 1[42]
Louisville Battle for the Governor's Cup The Governor's Cup 22[43] 13-9[43] Kentucky Kentucky Won 3[43]
LSU Tulane The Battle for the Rag The Tiger Rag[18] 97[44] 66-22-7[44] LSU LSU Won 17[44]
Ole Miss The Magnolia Bowl The Magnolia Bowl Trophy 96[45] 55-38-4[45] LSU Ole Miss Won 2[45]
Mississippi State Ole Miss The Egg Bowl The Golden Egg Trophy 106[46] 42-58-6[46] Ole Miss Mississippi State Won 1[46]
Ole Miss Arkansas Nutt Bowl — 55[47] 25-29-1[47] Arkansas Ole Miss Won 2[47]
South Carolina Clemson The Palmetto Bowl The Hardee's Trophy 107[48] 38-65-4[48] Clemson South Carolina Won 1[48]
Georgia The Border Bash — 61[49] 14-45-2[49] Georgia Georgia Won 2[49]
North Carolina Battle for "Carolina" — 55[50] 17-34-4[50] North Carolina South Carolina Won 1[50]
Tennessee The Halloween Game[19] — 27[51] 4-22-2[51] Tennessee Tennessee Won 1[51]
Tennessee Kentucky The Border Battle The Beer Barrel[20] 104[52] 72-23-9[52] Tennessee Tennessee Won 25[52]
Vanderbilt Tennessee Tennessee–Vanderbilt rivalry — 103[53] 28-70-5[53] Tennessee Tennessee Won 3[53]

Player awards

Each year, the conference selects various individual awards. In 1994, the conference began honoring former players from each school annually with the SEC Football Legends program.

50th anniversary All-Time SEC Team

In 1982, the SEC Skywriters, a group of media covering the Southeastern Conference, selected members of their All-Time SEC Team for the first 50 years (1933–82) of the SEC.

Coach: Paul Bryant

Offense
QB Archie Manning, Ole Miss 1968-70
HB Charley Trippi, Georgia 1942,45-46
HB Billy Cannon, LSU 1957-59
HB Herschel Walker, Georgia 1980-82
WR Don Hutson, Alabama 1932-34
WR Terry Beasley, Auburn 1969-71
TE Ozzie Newsome, Alabama 1974-77
OL John Hannah, Alabama 1970-72
OL Bruiser Kinard, Ole Miss 1935-37
OC Dwight Stephenson, Alabama 1977-79
OL Bob Suffridge, Tennessee 1938-40
OL Billy Neighbors, Alabama 1959-61
PK Fuad Reveiz, Tennessee 1981-84

Defense
DL Doug Atkins, Tennessee 1950-52
DL Bill Stanfill, Georgia 1966-68
DL Jack Youngblood, Florida 1968-70
DL Lou Michaels, Kentucky 1955-57
DL Gaynell Tinsley, LSU 1934-36
LB Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama 1960-62
LB Jack Reynolds, Tennessee 1967-69
LB D. D. Lewis, Miss. State 1965-67
DB Tucker Frederickson, Auburn 1962-64
DB Jake Scott, Georgia 1967-68
DB Tommy Casanova, LSU 1969-71
DB Don McNeal, Alabama 1977-79
DB Jimmy Patton, Ole Miss 1953-55
P Craig Colquitt, Tennessee 1958-60
50th anniversary logo that was used in the 1982-83 athletic season.

Men's basketball

Teams play a 16-game conference schedule, facing each team from its own division twice and each team from the opposite division once. Before expansion, teams played a double round-robin, leading to an exhausting 18-game conference schedule. Not surprisingly, no team ever ran the table when the conference schedule featured 18 games; three teams went 17-1 (Kentucky in 1970 and 1986, LSU in 1981). Since the league slate was trimmed to 16 games, Kentucky has gone undefeated in SEC play in 1996 and 2003.

Basketball tournament

The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The tournament is most often held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, though sometimes takes place at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee or the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.

Prior to moving to the Georgia Dome, the tournament was most often contested at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, home of the SEC's headquarters and centrally located prior to the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina. Other sites to host include on-campus arenas at LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt; Rupp Arena in Lexington; and the Orlando Arena.

Rivalries

Several men's basketball rivalries have developed in the SEC (westernmost SEC team listed first):

Though not as meaningful as in football, the Iron Bowl of Basketball is still extremely fierce and both teams tend to be evenly matched going into their games with one other. The two teams first met in 1924. Alabama leads the all-time series (85-56) and Auburn has won 6 out of the last 8.
One of the oldest rivalries in the SEC, the Crimson Tide and the Volunteers usually take their hard fought battles on the hardwood down to the last minute, often resulting in buzzer beater victories and overtime thrillers. The all-time record in this rivalry is 72-64 in Alabama's favor.
The dominance of these two teams in the '90s over everyone else in the SEC led to quite a rivalry, mostly by default, being the best two teams in the conference. The rivalry cooled in the following years as the Razorbacks have slipped toward the middle of the pack in the SEC. With the recent success of new Razorback head coach and former Kentucky player, John Pelphrey, the series has once again risen in prominence.
This conference matchup has become a major rivalry in recent years with the rise of the Florida basketball program under Billy Donovan (a former Kentucky assistant). While Kentucky holds an 84-30 advantage in the series due to decades of domination, the margin has narrowed since Donovan became the Gators' head coach.
A "border war" between two of the sport's historic giants. This rivalry is traditionally played at neutral sites, the RCA Dome (Lucas Oil Stadium beginning in 2009) in Indianapolis and Freedom Hall in Louisville, rather than in Bloomington and Lexington. The all-time record in this rivalry is 28-22 in Kentucky's favor.
This rivalry, nicknamed the Battle for Bluegrass, is unlike most that involve SEC schools in that it is relatively recent. For nearly 60 years, Kentucky and Louisville did not face off on the hardwood. Louisville's victory over the Wildcats in the Mideast Regional final in the 1983 NCAA basketball tournament led to pressure from fans to begin a regular-season series between the two teams, which would begin in the 1983–1984 season. The rivalry added a new edge in 2001 when the Cardinals hired former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino (although he was not hired directly from UK). Former UK head coach Tubby Smith was a former UK assistant under Pitino, and reportedly recommended Pitino to Louisville. Pat Forde, an ESPN.com columnist who formerly worked for Kentucky's main daily newspaper, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, wrote during the 2009 offseason that "the temperature [of the rivalry] shot up to nuclear-fusion levels when John Calipari was hired in Lexington", adding "there is a genuine and mutual antipathy between the coaches [Pitino and Calipari], no matter what they say publicly."[54] The Big Blue own the all-time series record at 26-12.
This rivalry is also a "border war" and the schools are located just three hours apart on Interstate 75. The two teams have played over 200 times in their history. When the two teams play at Knoxville, Thompson-Boling Arena is almost always sold out. Kentucky leads the rivalry 140-64.
Not only are these two schools the closest to one another geographically within the SEC – a mere 80 miles separate them – but their respective head coaches, Anthony Grant and Rick Stansbury, often battle each other for the same recruits. Although the all-time record in this rivalry is 111-71 in Alabama's favor, Mississippi State has won 6 of their last 8 games against Alabama.
The in-state rivalry between these two teams in men's basketball dates back to the early 1900s. The two teams have played against each other more than 230 times in the SEC's most-played rivalry. Mississippi State leads 135-103 in 238 all time games. Mississippi State has also won 14 of the last 18 and 18 of the last 23 against Ole Miss.
These two teams have raised their level of play in recent years and have developed a cross-state rivalry that is filled with hatred by the teams, fans and even the coaches (Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl and former Memphis coach John Calipari). On February 23, 2008, Pearl led the second-ranked Vols into in-state, undefeated rival Memphis to play the # 1 ranked Tigers. After a back and forth, emotionally heated contest, Tennessee defeated Memphis 66–62, handing the opponent its first loss of the season and its first home loss in 47 games. The win also cemented UT with a # 1 rank the following week.

Awards

The SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year is awarded to the player who has proven himself, throughout the season, to be the most exceptional talent in the Southeastern Conference. Various other awards, such as the best tournament player in the SEC Tournament and all conference honors are given out throughout the year.

Baseball

The SEC Baseball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball SEC, first started in 1977. It is a double-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. Since 1998, the tournament has been held at Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama and contested under the format used at the College World Series from 1988 through 2002, with two four-team brackets leading to a single championship game. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

In addition to the winner of the SEC Baseball Tournament, the Southeastern Conference usually gets several at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.

Rivalries

Several baseball rivalries have developed in the SEC:

Historically these schools are arch-rivals, but following Tulane's decades long deemphasis of sports, this is the only sport in which the two schools are more evenly matched. On several occasions matchups between the two have drawn national record-setting attendances. Tulane reached its first College World Series in 2001 by defeating LSU in three games in the super regional at Zephyr Field.
Before the arrival of Skip Bertman as LSU's baseball coach in 1984, Mississippi State had long dominated the conference in baseball, with most of that success coming under legendary coach Ron Polk (who returned to coach the Bulldogs in 2002 after retiring following the 1997 season), who coached future MLB stars such as Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark and Jeff Brantley. But when Bertman arrived in Baton Rouge, LSU's long-dormant program took off, winning 11 SEC championships and five College World Series championships in 18 seasons from 1984 through 2001.
To say that the two teams are familiar with each other would be an understatement as the Gamecocks and Tar Heels have met on the diamond four of the past six years. The 2002 NCAA Regional, 2003 NCAA Super Regional and 2004 NCAA Regional featured both schools against each other. South Carolina took two of three games over the Tar Heels to advance in the postseason in 2002, won both games in 2003 to reach the College World Series and won a pair of games in 2004 to go on to another NCAA Super Regional. South Carolina baseball coach Ray Tanner has an even longer history with the Tar Heels, having coached ACC rival North Carolina State for nine seasons (1988-96) before leaving for Columbia.

Women's basketball

The SEC has historically been the most dominant conference in women's basketball.[55] Since the 2009-10 season, teams have played a 16-game conference schedule without divisions; prior to that time the conference schedule was 14 games.[56] Not only is the conference not split into divisions, but the schedule is also not divisionally based. Each team plays home-and-home games against five schools—one permanent opponent and two pairs of schools that rotate every two years. The remaining six games are single games against the six other schools in the conference, with three at home and three away.

The recent history of SEC women's basketball is dominated by Tennessee, who have won regular season and/or conference championships in 20 of the last 22 seasons, as well as 8 national championships since 1987. In the 28 seasons the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship has been held, SEC schools have reached the Final Four 32 times, more than twice as often as any other conference.[57]

Basketball tournament

The SEC Women's Basketball Tournament is currently held a week before the men's basketball tournament. Like the men's version, it is a single-elimination tournament involving all 12 teams, with seeding based on regular season records. The top four teams in the conference standings (instead of the top two teams in each division of men's play) receive first-round byes, and the winner earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The tournament, inaugurated in 1980, was originally held on campus sites; the first tournament to take place at a neutral site was in 1987. The two most frequent sites for the tournament have been McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee (seven times) and the Gray Civic Center in Albany, Georgia (six times); however, the tournament was last played in Albany in 1992 and Chattanooga in 2000. Because demand for women's tournament tickets is generally lower than for the men's tournament, it is typically played in a smaller venue than the men's tournament in the same season. The most frequent venues in recent years have been Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, each of which has hosted the event three times since 2000.

Other sports

Besides football, basketball, and baseball, there are a number of other sports in which the Southeastern Conference actively competes.

Rivalries

The Lady Vols have historically been the nation's dominant program in that sport. Starting in the mid-1990s, UConn has emerged as Tennessee's main rival for national prominence. The Huskies won four national titles between 2000 and 2004; in three of those years, their victim in the NCAA final was Tennessee. Connecticut also defeated Tennessee in the 1995 Championship game, the Huskies' first-ever title.
These two storied programs have often butted heads for not only SEC titles, but NCAA titles, as well. Georgia has won ten national championships to Alabama's four. For decades the rivalry was dominated by the two long standing coaches of the two schools, Suzanne Yoculan of Georgia and Sarah Patterson of Alabama. Yoculan has since retired bringing their personal rivalry to an end.
These two nationally-acclaimed softball programs have proven to be the elite of the SEC and the nation. While consistently being ranked in the nation's Top Ten, both teams find their way to the SEC Tournament Finals and often clash once more in the Women's College Softball World Series.
One of the youngest rivalries featuring an SEC team, the Tigers and Texas Longhorns are the two most successful swimming and diving programs in the country. The two have combined for 17 NCAA National Titles since 1981 (9 for Texas, 8 for Auburn) and between 1999 and 2007 won every national title awarded. The two regularly face off in a meet during the regular season, Auburn's men own an 11-9 record over the Longhorns. The women just recently began an annual series, with the Tigers winning the series so far 2-1. Texas was the only team to beat the Auburn men between 2001 and 2007.[58]

Schools ranked by endowment

University Endowment as of 2010[59][60]
Vanderbilt University $2.8 billion
University of Florida $1.01 billion
University of Arkansas $939.8 million
University of Kentucky $696.5 million
University of Tennessee $664.6 million
University of Alabama $535.4 million
Louisiana State University $534.7 million
University of South Carolina $531.7 million
University of Georgia $456.1 million
Auburn University $402 million
University of Mississippi $369.8 million
Mississippi State University $254.5 million

National championships

Since its founding in 1932, and the first full academic year of competition in 1933, SEC members have won a total of 161 team national championships.[61]

Conference champions

The Southeastern Conference sponsors eight men's sports and ten women's sports, and awards a conference championship in every one of them.

See also

Notes

  • ^ A. One men's home game per year played at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
  • ^ B. In 2009, Carolina Stadium replaces historic Sarge Frye Field.
  • ^ C. Two games played each year at Little Rock, one non-conference game and one SEC game.
  • ^ D. New arena scheduled to open for 2010-11 season.
  • ^ E. New Alex Box Stadium scheduled to open for 2009 season.
  • ^ F. Though Mississippi State's Dudy Noble Field official seating capacity is 7,200, its total capacity is 15,500, which includes privately owned seating in Left Field Lounge. Mississippi State holds the all-time NCAA on-campus record for one day attendance at 14,991.[62]
  • ^ H. Trophy first awarded in 1996.
  • ^ I. Series was annual rivalry when Arkansas and Texas were both in the Southwest Conference. Teams have played only twice in regular season since Arkansas joined the SEC. Will play again in 2008 & 2014.
  • ^ J. Series was annual rivalry when Arkansas and Texas A&M were both in the Southwest Conference. Teams will begin playing annually at Cowboys Stadium again in 2009.
  • ^ K. The series doesn't have a nickname, but due to the close margin most years, some individual games do. Not an annual rivalry until Auburn and LSU were placed in SEC West division in 1992.
  • ^ L. Series has only been played twice in regular season since 1987.
  • ^ M. Played in Jacksonville. Now officially referred to as the "Florida-Georgia/Georgia-Florida Game" (depending on which team is designated the home team) due to sensitivity about consumption of alcohol by college students.
  • ^ N. For decades the trophy of this game was a red, white, and blue bourbon barrel, but this practice was discontinued in 1999 following a DUI accident that killed two Kentucky football players.
  • ^ O. Whereabouts of the original rag are unknown; a new rag was presented to LSU after victories in 2001 and 2006. Series was only contested twice from 1995 through 2005, but a 10-year contract began in 2006.
  • ^ P. Since joining the SEC this game has been played on or around Halloween every year, accordingly many students dress in costume for this game. The contrasting team colors are also typical Halloween colors.
  • ^ Q. For 74 years the trophy of this game was the Beer Barrel: an orange, white, and blue beer keg. However, this practice was discontinued in 1999 following the aforementioned DUI accident.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.secsports.com/championships/default.aspx
  2. ↑ "2009–2010 SEC Revenue Distribution". Southeastern Conference. 2010-06-05. http://www.secsports.com/news/2009-10-sec-revenue-distribution.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
  3. ↑ "Slive Named Southeastern Conference Commissioner". SEC. 2002-07-02. http://www.secsports.com/new/local/commissioner_070202.html. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 About the Southeastern Conference
  5. ↑ [1]
  6. ↑ Michael Smith & John Ourand, "ESPN pays $2.25B for SEC rights", Sports Business Journal (August 25, 2008). Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  7. ↑ [2]
  8. ↑ [3]
  9. ↑ [4]
  10. ↑ SEC considering starting own TV network | TideSports.com
  11. ↑ [5]
  12. ↑ [6]
  13. ↑ Stories of Character :: Celebrating 75 Years
  14. ↑ www.secsports.com - SEC Members
  15. ↑ http://www.secsports.com/sports/default.aspx
  16. ↑ "Title IX rules related to SEC participation". The Chronicle. http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:hvsUfrm3NokJ:chronicle.com/che-data/articles.dir/articles-39.dir/issue-41.dir/41a03502.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-16. 
  17. ↑ Conference USA Official Athletic Site
  18. ↑ www.secsports.com - SEC Football Scheduling Format
  19. ↑ mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Series records
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Auburn-Georgia series record
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Alabama-Tennessee series record
  22. ↑ Ole Miss-Vanderbilt series record
  23. ↑ LSU-Florida series record
  24. ↑ Mississippi St.-Kentucky series record
  25. ↑ Arkansas-South Carolina series record
  26. ↑ Through the end of the completed 2009 season, the West leads the East 197 games to 181, with 21 ties.
  27. ↑ All time Division I-A football records, College Football Data Warehouse
  28. ↑ "SEC Bowl Tie-Ins". SECsports.com. http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=44. Retrieved 2008-12-03. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Totals & records following the completion of the 2008 season.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Alabama-Auburn series record
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Alabama-LSU series record
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Alabama-Ole Miss series record
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Arkansas-LSU series record
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Arkansas-Texas series record
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Arkansas-Texas A&M series record
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 Auburn-LSU series record
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Florida-Florida State series record
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Florida-Miami series record
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Florida-Georgia series record
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Florida-Tennessee series record
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 Georgia-Georgia Tech series record
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 Kentucky-Indiana series record
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Kentucky-Louisville series record
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 LSU-Tulane series record
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 LSU-Ole Miss series record
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Mississippi State-Ole Miss series record
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 Ole Miss-Arkansas series record
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 South Carolina-Clemson series record
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 South Carolina-Georgia series record
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 South Carolina-North Carolina series record
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 South Carolina-Tennessee series record
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 Tennessee-Kentucky series record
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 Vanderbilt-Tennessee series record
  54. ↑ Forde, Pat (2009-07-02). "Red-hot rivalries burn down the house". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4300036&sportCat=ncb. Retrieved 2009-08-22. 
  55. ↑ Traub, Seth (2000-11-17). "As Strong As Ever". CNNSI.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/women/news/2000/11/17/sec_one/. Retrieved 2010-03-04. 
  56. ↑ Minichino, Adam (2010-03-03). "SEC women's schedule affects seedings for tournament". The Starkville Dispatch. http://www.cdispatch.com/sports/article.asp?aid=5083. Retrieved 2010-03-04. 
  57. ↑ "The SEC". Southeastern Conference. http://www.secsports.com/the_sec/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-03-04. 
  58. ↑ "Auburn Men's Swimming And Diving Falls To No. 1 Texas, Snapping 44-Dual Meet Win Streak". Auburn University Athletics. http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/recaps/011107aaa.html. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
  59. ↑ "The College Sustainability Report Card". Sustainable Endowments Institute. 2008. http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2008/. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 
  60. ↑ Endowments retrieved 3-24-2010
  61. ↑ "National Titles Held by the SEC". Southeastern Conference. http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=9993. Retrieved 2007-07-16. 
  62. ↑ Mississippi State Alumnus:Fall 1999

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