From 2006-13, the SEC went on an unprecedented run of seven straight football national championships. Those titles shifted the balance of power in college athletics to the southeast, and the SEC used its hard-won influx of money and influence to invest in its other sports, to become not just a football conference but an everything conference.
More than a decade removed, we can safely say that plan has been successful. Almost too successful. The SEC got better in the sports where it wasn't competitive (like softball, men's basketball), and in the sports (baseball, women's basketball) where the SEC was already competitive, it became dominant.
"The money and the commitment that the SEC athletic directors have made to all sports is the difference, in my opinion," Tennessee softball coach Ralph Weekly said back in 2015.
In fact, in the six major team sports we track here at the Scoop, one might argue football has become the Ultimate Football Conference's worst sport. Don't believe me? Let's dive in.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Following a non-conference season in which the league posted an eye-popping .890 winning percentage, the SEC shattered the NCAA Tournament record by getting 14 of its 16 members in the 68-team field. The previous record was 11.
Regular season champion Auburn nabbed the No. 1 overall seed, while tournament champ Florida (also a No. 1 seed) is the second-most popular bet to win it all. Alabama and Tennessee grabbed 2-seeds, while Kentucky is a 3 and Texas A&M is the highest-rated No. 4 seed, meaning the SEC grabbed six of the top 13 spots in the Selection Committee's rankings.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The SEC is looking to defend its 3-year national title streak after South Carolina cut down the nets in 2022 and '24 and LSU did so in 2023.
Dawn Staley's Gamecocks begin their title defense as a No. 1 seed, along with Texas. Oklahoma, LSU and Tennessee earned No. 3 seeds, while Kentucky nabbed a No. 4.
The SEC's 10 bids was the most per capita (the 18-team Big Ten got 11), and eight of the conferences 10 dancers are a No. 5 seed or higher.
BASEBALL
The SEC has won six of the past seven national championships and five in a row -- and each title was claimed by a different program. Defending champion Tennessee has picked up right where it left off -- 20-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Preseason No. 1 Texas A&M has slunk completely out of the rankings after a 10-9 start, but the conference has hardly skipped a beat. In Monday's Baseball America Top 25, the Vols are trailed by (deep breath) No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 10 Alabama, No. 17 Auburn, No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Ole Miss, and No. 24 Kentucky.
Somehow, those two paragraphs are only scratching the surface of this league's diamond dominance.
The SEC's current alignment has placed both teams in the CWS Finals for four years running, while averaging four of the eight Omaha entrants since 2017. The last time an SEC team did not reach the CWS Finals was 2016.
SOFTBALL
The SEC's pick up of Oklahoma softball is the biggest pound-for-pound realignment acquisition since the ACC added Florida State football in 1992. An SEC school or Oklahoma has won all but two national championships since 2012 -- and the Sooners beat Texas to win the crown in 2022 and '24.
The 4-time defending national champions are 25-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation. In the most recent D1Softball rankings, the Sooners were chased by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Tennessee, and No. 6 Texas A&M. Seven more SEC squads joined the rankings in slots 14 through 24.
The SEC's current alignment has sent at least three teams to Oklahoma City annually since 2008.
FOOTBALL
Current SEC schools won eight straight national titles from 2005-12, and 14 of 18 from 2005-22. However, the It Just Means More Conference is on a previously-unfathomable 2-year drought in which its teams have not even played for a national championship, let alone won it. The last time the SEC's current alignment went two consecutive years without playing for a national title was 2001-02.
The 2023 SEC champion lost at home to the Big 12 champion and at a neutral site to the Big Ten champion, and the 2024 champion dropped two regular season games (including one by 18 points), then lost to Notre Dame in a Sugar Bowl quarterfinal. Newcomer Texas was the SEC's only representative in the CFP Final Four.
Elsewhere, the 2024 postseason saw Tennessee run off the field by Ohio State, Alabama close the calendar year the same way it began (losing a bowl game to Michigan), South Carolina lost the Citrus Bowl to Illinois, and USC began and ended its 2024 by defeating SEC foes (LSU and Texas A&M) in Las Vegas. The SEC's 8-7 postseason record was its worst since 2021.
All told, 2024 saw the SEC's worst performance in the AP Top 10 since 2014. (Current alignment included.)
VOLLEYBALL
Another sport where the SEC added hardware through expansion, Texas was the 2-time defending national champion upon joining the league.
Alas, the Longhorns suffered through a down year on the court, as did the rest of the conference. The SEC did not produce a No. 1 seed in the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament, and Kentucky was its only Elite Eight representative.
In a sport where the Big Ten and ACC are also formidable, the SEC has won only three of the last five national titles.
SUMMARY
Men's and women's basketball could, in theory, throw up airballs in crunch time, and its stick-and-ball sports could whiff come May and June. But it seems far more likely that football will end up a clear fifth among the SEC's big six team sports.