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Here is how the SEC has fared since the current NCAA Tournament formatwas adopted in 1985:
The SEC has received 82 tournament bids in the 17 years of six-round play. This averages close to five bids (4.82) per year.
Over 45 percent of SEC entrants (37) have advanced to at least the Sweet 16. Overall, the SEC has comprised 13.6 percent of the total
regional berths since 1985.
Ten SEC teams have advanced to the Final Four in this era, including
two each in 1994 (Arkansas, Florida) and 1996 (Kentucky, Mississippi
State). The '96 tourney was especially noteworthy for the conference as,
despite only four bids overall, the league went 14-3 in the Big Dance.
The 10 SEC Final Four slots have been occupied by five different member schools. Kentucky has four of the berths, including a 1996-98
"threepeat." Arkansas went back-to-back in 1994 and 1995.
Two SEC members -- Kentucky (1996, 1998) and Arkansas (1994) -- have won national championships since the tourney expanded. It is probably no coincidence that the conference has enjoyed a postseason renaissance since the Razorbacks joined the league in between their '90 and '94 Final Four trips.
Hard to argue with the SEC in either 1986 or 1996. Both times the conference received "only" four bids to the dance, but was a collective
8-for-8 in sending those entrants to at least the Sweet 16. In '86, three of the four played for a regional champion (and it might have been
all four had not Kentucky been bracketed with Alabama in the Southeast Region semis, before that bracketing criteria was changed). The moral of
the story? Circle all the SEC teams on your 2006 bracket!
The most "overachieving" SEC teams of this era are two that did not win a national championship. The 2000 Florida Gators were only a No. 5
seed before sprinting to the NCAA title game. And how many remember LSU in 1986? Those Tigers remain the lowest seed (No. 11) to reach a Final
Four. Even fewer remember LSU nearly pulled the same feat a year later, taking a No. 10 seed to the Midwest Region final. In that memorable
contest, Indiana prevailed by one point and Bob Knight temper-tantrum (if you don't believe me, ask the telephone he smacked further than a
Keith Smart jumper).
The SEC has never suffered the humiliation of a first weekend exit by a No. 1 seed. However, No. 2 South Carolina lost a first-rounder to No.
15 Coppin State in 1997. Just to prove that was no fluke, the No. 3 Gamecocks lost to No. 14 Richmond a year later.
The SEC's overall NCAA winning percentage from 1985-2001 is .617 (127-79). Its "Bracketology Score" is 1.015. (Translation: NCAA games
played divided by number of games conference members were seeded to play; average score equals 1.000).
Joe Lunardi is the resident "bracketologist" for ESPN.com. He may be reached at jlunardi@home.com.
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