The SEC might have been the best conference ever in 2025, when it sent 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament, placed two in the Final Four and produced the national champion.
It was nearly impossible to replicate, and the SEC got “only” 10 teams last March. But the conference has reloaded, and with eight more tourney spots available in 2027, getting 14 seems attainable.
Especially when you start studying these rosters. From Nos. 9 through 14 in the rankings below, I found myself thinking I could look really dumb for putting each team that low. Even projected last-place South Carolina has enough talent that I wouldn’t be shocked if the Gamecocks find their way into the NCAA Tournament.
The SEC is willing to spend more money on basketball rosters than any other conference. The best examples? Florida was able to retain Thomas Haugh, who would have been a first-round (and maybe lottery) draft pick had he left, and Texas was able to pluck two leading scorers from other high-major rosters where the coach is back. Those two highly invested teams are at the top of a very deep league.
1. Florida
Last season: 27-8 (16-2 SEC), Round of 32
Coach: Todd Golden, fifth season at Florida. Golden has won a national championship, an SEC regular-season championship and a conference tourney championship in just four seasons.
Key player: Thomas Haugh is reportedly one of the highest-paid players in college basketball this season and one of three returning All-Americans.
Stat to know: Florida was dominant in just about every statistical category except 3-point shooting. The Gators shot only 31.2 percent from deep, and one reason to hope for improvement is that they swapped out Xaivian Lee (29.2 percent) for Denzel Aberdeen, who made 36.3 percent of his 3s last year at Kentucky and is a career 35.1 percent shooter, including three seasons at Florida.
Why they’re interesting: The last five No. 1 seeds* to return at least four starters the following year are Kansas (for the 2007-08 season), North Carolina (2008-09), Kansas (2016-17), Purdue (2023-24) and Houston (2024-25 season). Those teams, in order, won the national title, won the national title, lost in the Elite Eight, lost in the national title game and lost in the national title game by one bucket; they all were No. 1 seeds again and all won their conferences, going a combined 78-12 in conference play. The Gators are next in line, with four starters returning from a No. 1 seed. The odds are in their favor to win the SEC.
2. Texas
Last season: 21-15 (9-9), Sweet 16
Coach: Sean Miller, second season at Texas. Miller won a lot of goodwill by going from the First Four to the Sweet 16 in his first season and was rewarded with the resources to sign one of the best rosters in the sport.
Key player: Matas Vokietaitis is an old-school big man who gives Texas something different from most SEC teams. He led the conference by scoring 5.5 points per game off post-ups last year, per Synergy, and he drew 8.3 fouls per 40 minutes, the third-highest foul rate in college basketball.
Stat to know: Texas was the only school to rank in the top five of both 247Sports’ high school recruiting and transfer recruiting rankings. The Longhorns had four top-100 transfers on our list at The Athletic, one of three schools with at least four on the list.
