SEC Flexes March Muscle In Basketball, Baseball

With the college basketball and baseball seasons in the mid-March spotlight, the Southeastern Conference is taking center stage in both sports.

In basketball, three of the top five teams in the Associated Press poll are from the SEC: Auburn (No. 3), Florida (4), and Alabama (5). Those teams trail Duke (1) of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Houston (2) of the Big 12.

According to the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll, SEC baseball teams also rank high nationally. In that poll, four of the top five teams are from the SEC—Tennessee (1), LSU (2), Arkansas (3) and Georgia (5). The ACC’s Florida State is No. 4.

SEC 'Dominant' Basketball Conference

The SEC basketball tournament is underway this week in Nashville, with 13 teams from the conference having a good shot at being among the 68 in this year’s NCAA tournament, according to ESPN. The national tournament teams will be announced on Sunday.

ESPN calls the SEC “college basketball’s most dominant conference.”

Chris Low, an ESPN reporter, recently wrote that six SEC teams—Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas A&M—could get top-three seeds, “with Auburn the likely No. 1 overall seed.”

Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said he thinks there will be “an SEC vs. SEC matchup just to go to the Sweet 16.”

“There for sure will be an SEC vs. SEC matchup in the Sweet 16,” he said.

The SEC tournament concludes with the title game on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The 2025 NCAA men’s March Madness tournament begins Tuesday. The national title game is set for April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio and will be broadcast on CBS.

National Baseball Champions Emerge From SEC 

In collegiate baseball, the SEC has been dominant for the past several seasons, with six of the last seven national champions coming from the conference,

As this season’s national standings suggest, the SEC could produce another national titleholder this year, or at least serious contenders.

After four weeks of non-conference play, the SEC teams this weekend begin a 10-week stretch in which SEC teams compete against one another. That SEC vs. SEC period could provide a better picture of which teams have a title shot.

The regular season ends on May 17. The SEC tournament is set for May 20-25 in Hoover, Alabama.

The College World Series begins June 13 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Some SEC States Ban Sports Betting

While March brings excitement for fans of SEC teams, the situation is not so bright for some bettors across the region.

In five states, college teams compete in the SEC, and sports betting is illegal. Those states make up the largest regional grouping in the nation without legal sports betting.

The SEC states without legal sports betting are Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Currently, it appears unlikely those states will legalize sports betting this year.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal and live in 38 states. Sports betting also is legal in Missouri, but it is not expected to go live there until this fall.