Southeastern Conference

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Southeastern Conference
(SEC)
Established: 1933
Southeastern Conference logo
NCAA Division I FBS
Members 12
Sports fielded 17 (men's: 8; women's: 9)
Region Southern United States
Headquarters Birmingham, Alabama
Commissioner Michael Slive (since 2002)
Website http://www.secsports.com/
Locations
Southeastern Conference locations

The Southeastern Conference (commonly abbreviated, SEC) is a college athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I in athletic competitions; for football, it is part of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A). The conference is one of the most successful financially, consistently leading all conferences in revenue distribution to its members including a record $127.2 million for the 2007–2008 fiscal year.[1]

The Southeastern Conference was also the first 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 commissioner of the Southeastern Conference is Michael Slive.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Locations of current SEC full member institutions.

The SEC was established in December 1932, when the 13 members of the Southern Conference located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains left to form their own conference.[3][4] Ten of the thirteen charter members have remained in the conference since its inception: the University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University, University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), Mississippi State University, University of Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University.

The other charter members were:

  • Sewanee: Left the SEC in 1940. The school has since deemphasized varsity athletics and is currently a member of the Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
  • Georgia Tech: Left the SEC in 1964. In 1975, it became a founding member of the Metro Conference, one of the predecessors to today's Conference USA. Georgia Tech competed in the Metro in all sports except football, in which it was independent. In 1978, Georgia Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference for all sports, where it has remained.
  • Tulane: Left the SEC in 1966. Along with Georgia Tech, it was a charter member of the Metro Conference. Unlike Tech, however, Tulane remained in the Metro until the Metro Conference merged into the new Conference USA in 1995. Tulane remained an independent in football until the formation of Conference USA.

[edit] 1991 expansion

In 1991, the SEC expanded from 10 to 12 members with the addition of:

In 1992, the SEC adopted the divisional setup that exists today. Also in 1992, the SEC was the first conference to receive permission from the NCAA to conduct an annual championship game in football, featuring the winners of the conference's Eastern and Western divisions.[5] The 1992 and 1993 SEC Championships were held at Birmingham's Legion Field, and at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in all championship games thereafter.[5]

[edit] Membership timeline

[edit] Television and radio contracts

The SEC televises football games across various networks during the fall. The primary networks for SEC coverage are CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, and Raycom (formerly Lincoln Financial and Jefferson Pilot). 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 ET. CBS also has the rights for the SEC Championship Game. The next selection goes to ESPN, which will usually broadcast an SEC game at 7:45 ET. Raycom offers regional coverage for an SEC game of the week at 12:30 ET, and each school plays at least one game at this time. For those outside of the SEC media market, this game is offered on the ESPN Game Plan package. After the three networks make their selections, ESPN has an option to select another game to broadcast on one of its networks. ESPN also has the option to select additional SEC games for ESPN2, or occasionally will broadcast some games on Thursday night. [6]

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.[7]

For games not selected by any broadcast provider, certain schools 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 Southeastern Conference will not be included as part of the "Best of XM" package deal for Sirius customers.

[edit] 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. A decision was made to postpone the decision until at least the following year. [8]

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.[5] 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 15 years. It is the longest and wealthiest contract among all television deals among the major conferences. With these contracts, the SEC has 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.[5][5]

[edit] SEC Commissioners

75th anniversary logo that was used in 2008.

The office of Commissioner was created in 1940[9]

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

[edit] Current members

The SEC currently has twelve member institutions in nine Southeastern states.[10] 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 Gainesville, Florida
(108,655)		 1853 Public 51,913 1932 Gators Albert and Alberta
University of Georgia Athens, Georgia
(111,580)		 1785 Public 33,831 1932 Bulldogs Hairy Dawg, Uga
University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky
(270,789)		 1865 Public 27,209 1932 Wildcats The Wildcat, Scratch, Blue
University of South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina
(126,012)		 1801 Public 27,272 1991 Gamecocks Cocky, Sir Big Spur
University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee
(173,890)		 1794 Public 26,400 1932 Volunteers, Lady Volunteers Smokey
Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee
(607,413)		 1873 Private / Non-sectarian 11,607 1932 Commodores Mr. C
Western Division
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama
(88,722)		 1831 Public 27,052 1932 Crimson Tide Big Al
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas
(72,000)		 1871 Public 19,000 1991 Razorbacks, Lady Razorbacks Big Red, Boss Hog, Sooie, Pork Chop, Tusk
Auburn University Auburn, Alabama
(54,348)		 1856 Public 24,137 1932 Tigers Aubie, War Eagle VII
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana
(224,097)		 1860 Public 33,587 1932 Tigers, Lady Tigers Mike the Tiger
University of Mississippi Oxford, Mississippi
(14,051)		 1848 Public 17,323 1932 Rebels Colonel Reb
Mississippi State University Starkville, Mississippi
(22,638)		 1878 Public 17,824 1932 Bulldogs Bully
  • * Enrollment figures include both undergraduate and graduate students.

[edit] Sports

Former SEC logo

The Southeastern Conference sponsors championships in many different 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.[11]

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.[12]

[edit] 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)[1]
Memorial Coliseum (women)		 23,000
8,500		 Cliff Hagan Stadium 3,000
South Carolina Williams-Brice Stadium 80,250 Colonial Life Arena 18,000 Carolina Stadium 9,000
Tennessee Neyland Stadium 102,037 Thompson-Boling Arena 21,678 Lindsey Nelson Stadium 4,000
Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Stadium 39,790 Memorial Gymnasium 14,168 Hawkins Field 3,700
Western Division
Alabama Bryant-Denny Stadium[2] 92,138 Coleman Coliseum (men)
Foster Auditorium (women)		 15,043
5,400		 Sewell-Thomas Stadium 6,118
Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium (primary)
War Memorial Stadium (secondary)[3]		 72,000
53,727		 Bud Walton Arena 19,200 Baum Stadium 10,737
Auburn Jordan-Hare Stadium 87,451 Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum[4] 10,500 Plainsman Park 4,096
LSU Tiger Stadium 92,400 Pete Maravich Assembly Center 13,431 Alex Box Stadium 9,200
Ole Miss Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 60,850 Tad Smith Coliseum 8,700 Swayze Field 6,000+
Mississippi State Davis Wade Stadium 55,082 Humphrey Coliseum 10,500 Dudy Noble Field 7,200
  • ^ One men's home game per year played at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
  • ^ Currently under construction to add over 9,000 seats to the south end zone, to raise total capacity to over 101,000.
  • ^ Two games played each year at Little Rock, one non-conference game and one SEC game.
  • ^ New arena scheduled to open for 2010-11 season.

[edit] Football

Before expansion, each SEC school played 6 conference games. Five of these games were against permanent opponents, developing some traditional rivalries between schools, and the 6th game rotated around the other 4 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 relatively weaker 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.[13]

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 2008 season with Western Division wins listed first)[14]:

Western Division Eastern Division Series Record
Auburn Georgia 53-51-8[15]
Alabama Tennessee 46-38-7[16]
Ole Miss Vanderbilt 46-35-2[17]
LSU Florida 23-29-3[18]
Mississippi State Kentucky 16-20[19]
Arkansas South Carolina 10-7[20]
Overall Inter-Divisional Record 194-179-21[21]

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.

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).

[edit] SEC All Time Records[22]

# SEC Records Win %
1 Alabama 799-316-43 0.709
2 Tennessee 776-327-53 0.694
3 Georgia 724-384-54 0.646
4 LSU 701-383-47 0.641
5 Auburn 688-395-47 0.630
6 Arkansas 649-446-39 0.589
7 Florida 641-373-40 0.627
8 Mississippi 606-464-35 0.564
9 Kentucky 560-552-44 0.503
10 Vanderbilt 554-547-50 0.503
11 South Carolina 528-529-44 0.500
12 Mississippi State 486-527-39 0.481

[edit] Championship Game

The logo for the 2008 SEC Championship Game. Florida defeated Alabama in the championship game.
Main article: SEC 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. The SEC was the first conference in the NCAA to hold a championship game in football, which was made possible by the conference's expansion to twelve members with the addition of the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina in 1991. (The first championship game was during the 1992 season.) As of 2008, eight of the twelve SEC members have played in the Championship.

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. The Eastern division of the SEC leads the Western division in overall wins in the championship game 11 to 6.

[edit] Bowl tie-ins

The post-season bowl game tie-ins for the SEC for the 2007 season were:

  1. Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA (vs. BCS)
  2. Capital One Bowl in Orlando, FL (vs. Big Ten)
  3. Outback Bowl in Tampa, FL (vs. Big Ten)
  4. Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX (vs. Big 12)
  5. Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, GA (vs. ACC)
  6. Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN (vs. Conference USA)
  7. Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN (vs. ACC)
  8. Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA (vs. Big 12)
  9. PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, AL (vs. Big East) [23]

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 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).

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.

The Outback, Cotton, and Chick-fil-A Bowls each pick in the same tier and base their selections on regional differences. For example, the Cotton Bowl has preference on teams from the Western Division while the Outback Bowl has preference over teams in the Eastern Division.

At this point, the SEC is 2nd in BCS Bowl appearances, with 15 appearances, and 1st in all-time wins and winning percentage (only including teams with 2 or more appearances), with 11 wins and a .733 winning percentage. The BCS Bowls include the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, and the BCS National Championship Bowl.

Since the advent of the BCS National Championship Game format, the SEC is a perfect 5-0 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 three games and has won all three. Interestingly, the SEC team was ranked #1 only once going into the game (the first contest featuring Tennessee in 1998); the other four times the SEC team (LSU twice and Florida twice) was ranked #2.

[edit] Football Rivalries

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

Teams Rivalry Name Trophy Meetings[24] Record[24] Series leader Current Streak
Alabama Auburn Iron Bowl James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy 73[25] 39-33-1[25] Alabama Alabama Won 1[25]
LSU Alabama–LSU rivalry — 72[26] 44-23-5[26] Alabama Alabama Won 1[26]
Ole Miss Alabama–Ole Miss rivalry — 56[27] 45-9-2[27] Alabama Alabama Won 5[27]
Tennessee Third Saturday in October — 91[16] 46-38-7[16] Alabama Alabama Won 2[16]
Arkansas LSU The Battle for the Golden Boot The Golden Boot[5] 54[28] 19-33-2[28] LSU Arkansas Won 2[28]
Texas[6] Arkansas–Texas rivalry — 77[29] 21-56[29] Texas Texas Won 2[29]
Texas A&M Arkansas–Texas A&M rivalry[7] — 65[30] 38-24-3[30] Arkansas Texas A&M Won 2[30]
Auburn Georgia The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry — 112[31] 53-51-8[31] Auburn Georgia Won 3[31]
LSU The Tiger Bowl[8] — 43[32] 19-23-1[32] LSU LSU Won 2[32]
Florida Florida State Battle for the Governor's Cup — 53[33] 32-19-2[33] Florida Florida Won 5[33]
Miami Battle for the Seminole War Canoe The War Canoe Trophy[9] 54[34] 26-28[34] Miami Florida Won 1[34]
Georgia The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party[10] — 86[35] 38-46-2[35] Georgia Florida Won 1[35]
Tennessee Third Saturday in September — 38[36] 19-19[36] Tied Florida Won 4[36]
Georgia Georgia Tech Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate The Governor's Cup 103[37] 59-39-5[37] Georgia Georgia Tech Won 1[37]
Kentucky Indiana Kentucky–Indiana rivalry —[11] 36[38] 17-18-1[38] Indiana Kentucky Won 1[38]
Louisville Battle for the Governor's Cup The Governor's Cup 21[39] 12-9[39] Kentucky Kentucky Won 2[39]
LSU Tulane The Battle for the Rag The Tiger Rag[12] 97[40] 66-22-7[40] LSU LSU Won 17[40]
Ole Miss The Magnolia Bowl The Magnolia Bowl Trophy 96[41] 55-37-4[41] LSU Ole Miss Won 1[41]
Mississippi State Ole Miss The Egg Bowl The Golden Egg Trophy 105[42] 41-58-6[42] Ole Miss Ole Miss Won 1[42]
Ole Miss Arkansas Arkansas–Ole Miss rivalry — 55[43] 25-29-1[43] Arkansas Ole Miss Won 1[43]
South Carolina Clemson The Palmetto Bowl Hardee's Trophy 106[44] 37-65-4[44] Clemson Clemson Won 2[44]
Georgia The Border Bash — 61[45] 14-45-2[45] Georgia Georgia Won 1[45]
North Carolina Battle for "Carolina" — 55[46] 17-34-4[46] North Carolina South Carolina Won 1[46]
Tennessee The Halloween Game[13] — 27[47] 4-21-2[47] Tennessee South Carolina Won 1[47]
Tennessee Kentucky The Border Battle The Beer Barrel[14] 104[48] 72-23-9[48] Tennessee Tennessee Won 24[48]
Vanderbilt Tennessee Tennessee–Vanderbilt rivalry — 103[49] 28-70-5[49] Tennessee Tennessee Won 3[49]

[edit] Player Awards

Each year, the conference selects various Players of the Year – Offensive, Defensive, Special Teams, Freshman. In 1994, the conference began honoring former players from each school annually with the SEC Football Legends program.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Basketball tournament

Main article: SEC Men's 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, the Sommet Center 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 Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and the Orlando Arena.

[edit] Rivalries

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

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 and Wildcats 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 hardward. Louisville's victory over the Wildcats in the Mideast Regional final in the 1983 NCAA basketball tournament, pressure mounted from fans to begin a series between the two teams in the regular season, which would begin on a regular basis 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. 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 139-64.
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. The all-time record in this rivalry is 111-71 in Alabama's favor.
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 133-103 in 236 all time games.
What had been a recent football rivalry has become a basketball rivalry as well, as the Volunteers under Bruce Pearl (and even previously under Buzz Peterson) have had recent success against Florida.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Baseball

See also: SEC Baseball Tournament

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Other sports

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

[edit] Rivalries

See also: UConn-Tennessee rivalry
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 nine national championships to Alabama's four.
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.[50]

[edit] Southeastern Conference Schools Ranked by Endowment

University Endowment as of 2008[51]
Vanderbilt University $3.48 billion
University of Florida $1.21 billion
University of Alabama System $1.00 billion[52]
University of Arkansas $876 million
University of Tennessee System $867 million[53] 
University of Kentucky $831 million
Louisiana State University System $593 million
University of Georgia $572 million
University of Mississippi $495 million
University of South Carolina $438 million
Auburn University $378 million
Mississippi State University $350.5 million [15]

[edit] National Championships

Main article: List of SEC National Champions

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.[54]

[edit] Conference Champions

Main article: List of SEC 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] 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.[55]
  • ^ 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "2007–2008 SEC Revenue Distribution". Southeastern Conference. 2008-06-01. http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=2&url_article_id=11168&change_well_id=2. Retrieved on 2008-06-01. 
  2. ^ "Slive Named Southeastern Conference Commissioner". SEC. 2002-07-02. http://www.secsports.com/new/local/commissioner_070202.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-05. 
  3. ^ Sec Tournament Tickets College Basketball Ticket - Buy Cheap Sec Tournament Tickets
  4. ^ FSU and the SEC
  5. ^ a b c d e About the Southeastern Conference
  6. ^ SEC TV: The Future of Southeastern Conference Television Coverage | Bleacher Report
  7. ^ Sports Business Journal "ESPN pays $2.25B for SEC rights", Michael Smith and John Urand, August 25, 2008
  8. ^ SEC considering starting own TV network | TideSports.com
  9. ^ Stories of Character :: Celebrating 75 Years
  10. ^ www.secsports.com - SEC Members
  11. ^ "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 on 2007-07-16. 
  12. ^ Conference USA Official Athletic Site
  13. ^ www.secsports.com - SEC Football Scheduling Format
  14. ^ mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Series records
  15. ^ Auburn-Georgia series record
  16. ^ a b c d Alabama-Tennessee series record
  17. ^ Ole Miss-Vanderbilt series record
  18. ^ LSU-Florida series record
  19. ^ Mississippi St.-Kentucky series record
  20. ^ Arkansas-South Carolina series record
  21. ^ Through the end of the completed 2008 season, the West leads the East 193 games to 175, with 21 ties.
  22. ^ All time Division I-A football records, College Football Data Warehouse
  23. ^ PapaJohns.com Bowl receives tie-in with SEC - NCAA Football - SI.com
  24. ^ a b Totals & records following the completion of the 2008 season.
  25. ^ a b c Alabama-Auburn series record
  26. ^ a b c Alabama-LSU series record
  27. ^ a b c Alabama-Ole Miss series record
  28. ^ a b c Arkansas-LSU series record
  29. ^ a b c Arkansas-Texas series record
  30. ^ a b c Arkansas-Texas A&M series record
  31. ^ a b c Auburn-Georgia series record
  32. ^ a b c Auburn-LSU series record
  33. ^ a b c Florida-Florida State series record
  34. ^ a b c Florida-Miami series record
  35. ^ a b c Florida-Georgia series record
  36. ^ a b c Florida-Tennessee series record
  37. ^ a b c Georgia-Georgia Tech series record
  38. ^ a b c Kentucky-Indiana series record
  39. ^ a b c Kentucky-Louisville series record
  40. ^ a b c LSU-Tulane series record
  41. ^ a b c LSU-Ole Miss series record
  42. ^ a b c Mississippi State-Ole Miss series record
  43. ^ a b c Ole Miss-Arkansas series record
  44. ^ a b c South Carolina-Clemson series record
  45. ^ a b c South Carolina-Georgia series record
  46. ^ a b c South Carolina-North Carolina series record
  47. ^ a b c South Carolina-Tennessee series record
  48. ^ a b c Tennessee-Kentucky series record
  49. ^ a b c Vanderbilt-Tennessee series record
  50. ^ "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 on 2009-05-26. 
  51. ^ "The College Sustainability Report Card". Sustainable Endowments Institute. 2008. http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2008/. Retrieved on 2008-11-05. 
  52. ^ "2007 NACUBO Endowment Study". National Association of College and University Business Officers. 2008. http://www.nacubo.org/Images/All%20Institutions%20Listed%20by%20FY%202007%20Market%20Value%20of%20Endowment%20Assets_2007%20NES.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-11-05. 
  53. ^ "2006-07 Facts & Figures". University of Tennessee. https://my.tennessee.edu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/AAF/UNIVSTATS/FY2007/FACTS%26FIGURES2006-07.PDF. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. 
  54. ^ "National Titles Held by the SEC". Southeastern Conference. http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=9993. Retrieved on 2007-07-16. 
  55. ^ Mississippi State Alumnus:Fall 1999

[edit] External links

v • d • e
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences
* Conference champion receives an automatic BCS bid
v • d • e
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Eastern Division
Western Division
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_Conference"
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