Over the last few days, the SEC has put its reputation as the best conference in men’s college basketball on the line. The SEC set a record this year by placing 14 of its schools into the 68-team NCAA Tournament field. This broke the previous March Madness record of 11 teams from one conference, set by the Big East Conference in 2011. LSU and South Carolina were the only SEC schools that didn’t make the national postseason this year.
By having 14 schools in the Big Dance, the SEC made up 20.6% of March Madness entrants. How did the opening rounds of the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament go for those 14 SEC teams? In total, the SEC went 11-7 in the First Four, round of 64 and round of 32 — so far — in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Following Saturday’s games, three SEC schools — Arkansas, Auburn and Tennessee — have secured a spot in the Sweet 16.
Four other SEC schools will also have the chance to advance to the Sweet 16 on Sunday, including Kentucky. Here are the SEC winners and losers from the first days of March Madness.
Auburn struggled early before easing its way to an 83-63 win over No. 16 seed Alabama State in an opening-round game that was played at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Tigers then went on to beat No. 9 seed Creighton, 82-70, on Saturday night in Lexington to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. Previously, the Bluejays had upset No. 8 seed Louisville in the first round. Florida had no issues whatsoever in a 95-69 crushing of No. 16 seed Norfolk State in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Gators will face No. 8 seed UConn, the two-time defending national champions, on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.