Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a college athletic conference which operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I in athletic competitions (I-A in football). The conference is one of the most successful both on the field and financially, averaging more than six national championships per year since 1990 and consistently leading all conferences in revenue distribution to its members including $110.7 million in the 2004-2005 fiscal year [1]. The Southeastern Conference was also the first to hold a championship game (and award a subsequent title) for 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].
History
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. Ten of the thirteen charter members have remained in the conference since its inception: the universities of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee ; as well as Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt universities. 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 of today's Conference USA, competing there 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 Conference throughout its history until it merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA in 1995. Tulane remained an independent in football until the formation of C-USA.
The SEC expanded from 10 to 12 members in 1991 with the addition of the University of Arkansas from the Southwest Conference and the University of South Carolina from the independent ranks in football and the Metro Conference in other sports. 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. It was held at Birmingham's Legion Field the first two years and at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta thereafter.
Current members (and year joined)
The SEC currently has twelve member institutions in nine Southeastern states. The geograpic domain of the conference streches from Arkansas to South Carolina and from Kentucky to Florida. One or both of the flagship universities in each state in the geographic domain of the SEC is a member of the conference, along with one of the preeminent private universities of the Deep South.
The conference is divided into two geographic divisions: the East Division and the West Division. The twelve current members of the Southeastern Conference are:
| Institution | Location (Population) |
Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Year Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Florida | Gainesville, Florida (108,856) |
1853 | Public | 41,094 | 1932 |
| University of Georgia | Athens, Georgia (100,266) |
1785 | Public | 32,200 | 1932 |
| University of Kentucky | Lexington, Kentucky (266,358) |
1865 | Public | 24,317 | 1932 |
| University of South Carolina | Columbia, South Carolina (116,278) |
1801 | Public | 27,065 | 1991 |
| University of Tennessee | Knoxville, Tennessee (173,890) |
1794 | Public | 27,281 | 1932 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee (561,891) |
1873 | Private (Non-sect.) |
11,500 | 1932 |
| Institution | Location (Population) |
Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Year Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Alabama (79,294) |
1831 | Public | 21,750 | 1932 |
| University of Arkansas | Fayetteville, Arkansas (58,047) |
1871 | Public | 17,821 | 1991 |
| Auburn University | Auburn, Alabama (48,348) |
1856 | Public | 22,928 | 1932 |
| Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, Louisiana (224,097) |
1860 | Public | 31,561 | 1932 |
| University of Mississippi | Oxford, Mississippi (11,756) |
1848 | Public | 16,500 | 1932 |
| Mississippi State University | Starkville, Mississippi (21,869) |
1878 | Public | 15,934 | 1932 |
SEC East
SEC West
Sports sponsored
- Football
- Men's Basketball
- Women's Basketball
- Baseball
- Softball (except Vanderbilt)
- Women's Soccer
- Women's Volleyball (except Vanderbilt)
- Men's Cross-Country (except South Carolina)
- Women's Cross Country
- Men's Track & Field (except MSU and Vanderbilt)
- Women's Track & Field
- Men's Swimming and Diving (except Arkansas, MSU, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt)
- Women's Swimming and Diving (except MSU and Ole Miss) (Vanderbilt starts 2006-2007)
- Men's Tennis
- Women's Tennis
- Men's Golf
- Women's Golf
- Women's Gymnastics (Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU)
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.
Conference Stadia
College Football Rivalries in the SEC
Football has a rich tradition in the SEC, and its many rivalries among its members have long histories. Some of the rivalries involving SEC teams include:
| Rivalry | Name | Trophy |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama-Tennessee | The Third Saturday In October | |
| Arkansas-LSU | The Battle for the Golden Boot | The Golden Boot |
| Auburn-Alabama | The Iron Bowl | ODK-James E. Foy V Sportsmanship Trophy |
| Auburn-Georgia | The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry | |
| Auburn-LSU | ||
| Florida-Florida State | Battle for the Governor's Cup | |
| Florida-Miami | The War Canoe | |
| Florida-Georgia | The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party[1] | |
| Florida-Tennessee | The Third Saturday in September | |
| Georgia-Georgia Tech | Clean, Old Fashioned Hate | The Governor's Cup |
| Kentucky-Indiana | None[2] | |
| Kentucky-Louisville | The Governor's Cup | |
| LSU-Tulane | The Battle for the Rag | The Rag |
| LSU-Ole Miss | ||
| Mississippi State-Ole Miss | The Egg Bowl | The Golden Egg Trophy |
| South Carolina-Clemson | Battle of the Palmetto State | |
| Tennessee-Kentucky | None[3] | |
| Tennessee-Vanderbilt |
- ^ Played in Jacksonville. Now officially referred to as the "Florida-Georgia/Georgia-Florida Game" due to sensitivity about consumption of alcohol by college students.
- ^ 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.
- ^ For 74 years the trophy of this game was an orange, white, and blue beer keg, but this practice was discontinued in 1999 following the aforementioned DUI accident.
Each school has a permanent rival from the other division which it plays each year in football (though this may or may not reflect a traditional rivalry). Each East Division school's permanent rival from the West Division:
| East Division | West Division |
|---|---|
| Florida | LSU |
| Georgia | Auburn |
| Kentucky | Mississippi State |
| South Carolina | Arkansas |
| Tennessee | Alabama |
| Vanderbilt | Ole Miss |
In addition to the permanent inter-division rival, each football team plays all of its five division opponents plus two rotating opponents from the other division, for a total of eight conference games per season.
Rivalries in Other Sports in the SEC
The top athletic priority throughout the SEC is football, with one exception. Kentucky, which has one of the most storied basketball traditions in the country, is also one of only two Division I-A schools to earn more revenue from its basketball program than its football program. (The other is Arizona.) Vanderbilt and Arkansas also place more emphasis on basketball vis-a-vis football than most other SEC schools.
Despite the conference-wide emphasis on football, several rivalries have developed in other sports:
Men's basketball
- Arkansas-Kentucky
- The dominance of these two teams in the '90s over eveyone else in the SEC led to quite a rivalry, mostly by default of being the best two teams in the conference.
- Kentucky-Florida
- This premier conference matchup has become a major rivalry in recent years with the rise of the Florida basketball program under former Kentucky assistant coach, Billy Donovan.
- Kentucky-Indiana
- A historic "border war" between two of the sport's giants.
- Kentucky-Louisville
- This rivalry, unlike most that involve SEC schools, is relatively recent. For nearly 60 years, UK refused to schedule U of L in the regular season in either basketball or football. After a pulsating U of L victory over UK in the Mideast Regional final in the 1983 NCAA basketball tournament, pressure mounted on UK to schedule U of L; Cardinals supporters went so far as to propose a law mandating that the two schools schedule one another. The bill was never introduced, as a basketball series began in the 1983-84 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). Current UK head coach Tubby Smith is a former UK assistant under Pitino, and reportedly recommended Pitino to Louisville.
- Kentucky-Tennessee
- This rivalry is also a "border war." The two teams have played over 200 times in their history.
- Mississippi State-Alabama
- Not only are these two schools the closest to one another geographically within the SEC - a mere 95 miles separate them - but their respective head coaches, Mark Gottfried and Rick Stansbury, often battle each other for the same recruits.
Other sports
- Tennessee-UConn, women's basketball
- The Lady Vols have historically been one of the nation's dominant programs 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. For more information, see UConn-Tennessee rivalry.
- Alabama-Georgia, women's gymnastics
- These two storied programs have often butted heads for not only SEC titles, but NCAA titles, as well. There is also allegedly a personal rivalry between the head coaches.
- LSU-Tulane, baseball
- Historically these schools are arch-rivals, but following Tulane's decades long deemphesis of sports, this is the only sport in which the two schools are evenly matched. On several occasions matchups between the two have drawn national record-setting attendances.
National Championships
Since its founding in 1932, SEC members have won a total of 150 team national championships (as of June 5th 2005). Listed below are all championship teams of NCAA sponsored events, as well as the titles won in football. Conference members have won at least one title in all but two of the sponsored events, Softball and Women's Volleyball.
- Prior to 1932, the University of Alabama claimed national titles in football in 1925, 1926, and 1930.
- Prior to joining the SEC in 1992, the University of Arkansas claimed the 1964 football championship, nine titles in Men's Indoor Track, three in Men's Outdoor Track, and five in Men's Cross Country.
- Prior to 1932, former member Georgia Tech claimed football national titles in 1917 and 1928. Tech also won the 1952 title in football. The team defeated fellow SEC member Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl and finished with a record of 12-0. This came a year after Tennessee claimed its first unanimous national title in 1951, although it was also voted national champion by multiple polling services in 1938 and 1940.
- Up to 1982, teams representing member schools also claimed three AIAW Championships
| Football* (18): 1934 - Alabama |
Men's Basketball (9): 1948 - Kentucky |
Baseball (6): 1990 - Georgia |
Women's Soccer (1): 1998 - Florida |
| Men's Indoor Track & Field (12): 1993 - Arkansas |
Women's Indoor Track & Field (13): 1987 - LSU |
Men's Outdoor Track & Field (16): 1933 - LSU |
Women's Outdoor Track & Field (14): 1987 - LSU |
| Men's Cross Country (7): 1972 - Tennessee |
Men's Swimming & Diving (9): 1978 - Tennessee |
Men's Tennis (3): 1985 - Georgia | |
| Men's Golf (10): 1940 - LSU |
Women's Gymnastics (11): 1987 - Georgia |
See also
External links
- Official Site of the Southeastern Conference
- SECbbs Forum @ NCAAbbs
- LSU student newspaper article about LSU-Ole Miss rivalry
- The original AP article documenting the SEC's formation (Dec. 10, 1932)
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