The football conference that took college basketball by storm

Auburn, the top college basketball team in the country, was called first on Selection Sunday. A few moments later it was Texas A&M’s turn. Then Ole Miss. Then Mississippi State. By the full reveal of the 2025 NCAA Tournament’s bracket, 10 more SEC schools would be named. 

The conference has 16 programs — and an unprecedented 14 made into the NCAA Tournament, including four of the top eight teams in the bracket. The aforementioned Tigers, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama were all seeded No. 1 or No. 2.

“It’s a dominating performance,” ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla told NBC News. “I’m not sure there’s ever been a conference that is this clearly far ahead of everyone else in a given year.”

Not bad for a league most people associate with football. The SEC has 13 national championships since 2006, routinely brings in the best high school recruits, produces the most NFL talent and boasts fan bases that treat the sport like a religion.  

But in 2025, the roundball — not the pigskin — reigns supreme. 

“Statistically it’s the best season for any conference in modern college basketball history,” said Garth Glissman, the SEC’s associate commissioner of men’s basketball.

The secret to the league’s success? Get older, not younger. 

A decade ago, in the “one and done” era of college basketball, top-tier programs were built on their ability to recruit elite high school players. Former Kentucky coach John Calipari, now with Arkansas, was a prime example. He built the Wildcats into a consistent power with 14 freshman classes ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation, according to On3. 

But times have changed since the establishment of “Name, Image and Likeness” (NIL) deals and new transfer rules. Since 2021, the NCAA has allowed players to change programs and not sit out a season. And NIL collectives — groups that raise money with both large and small donors at individual schools — are able to offer athletes deals to join their programs. Some are reportedly in the millions of dollars. 

This is all to say that transfers — not incoming freshmen — are the shiny new toys. 

“There was a significant period of time in college basketball where high school recruiting rankings dictated a program’s success,” Glissman said. “Now players are able to transfer more freely, and so after each season, they’re effectively free agents. They’re able to assess the landscape and go often to the highest level of basketball available to them and to the best fit. Certainly that has worked to the SEC’s benefit this year.”

No more so than for Auburn, the best team in the country for much of the year. 

The Tigers (28-5) won the SEC regular season largely thanks to experienced talent. The roster includes six fifth-year or older players, and the starting lineup’s average age is 23.2.

Johni Broome, a first-team All-American who averages 18.9 points and 10.6 rebounds a game, is a Morehead State transfer. Auburn’s second-leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, is at his fourth school. The backcourt of Denver Jones and Miles Kelly transferred in from Florida International and Georgia Tech, respectively.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said the program has nine seniors, seven of whom have already graduated. 

“There’s very little difference between a 48-year-old man and a 52-year-old man. But there’s a huge difference between an 18-year-old man and a 22-year-old,” he told NBC News. “It’s huge — physically, experience, maturity, you name it.”

Pearl, who has taken 22 teams to the NCAA Tournament, added his current squad could be his most promising yet. 

“This is a team that is capable of winning a national championship,” he said. “It could be the best team I’ve ever had, but that’s to be determined.” 

Another program that exemplifies this way of thinking is top-seeded Florida. The Gators, with a starting lineup average age of 21.6, just won the SEC Tournament behind senior transfers Walter Clayton Jr. (Iona) and Alijah Martin (Florida Atlantic). 

“We’re still getting some of the best high school players to come to the SEC,” Glissman said, “but this year in particular, the winning formula in our conference has been older, veteran players.”

In contrast, the ACC, long considered one of the premier basketball conferences, has had a down year, partly based on a hesitancy to embrace NIL. According to ESPN, “the ACC’s top 10 men’s basketball players in NIL earnings in January 2024 made less than their peers in the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.”

Only four teams from the conference — No. 1 seed Duke, No. 5 Clemson, No. 8 Louisville and No. 11 North Carolina — got into the Big Dance. 

“They haven’t given their coaches the resources that you need to compete for really good players,” ESPN’s Seth Greenberg told NBC News. “We live in a world where it’s ‘pay for play.’ That’s the world we live in. One school [Duke] has done a really good job. Your investment equals your expectation. If you want that expectation of being really good, then you’ve got to match that expectation with your investment.”

Greenberg cites Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee as SEC teams that could make deep postseason runs but isn’t counting out anyone in the conference. 

“They’re the deepest, most athletic, most mature and [are] as well-coached as any conference in America,” he said. “What they did well ahead of everyone else is they invested in coaches, facilities, infrastructure and now obviously NIL. So they’ve hired world class coaches, given them the resources, and in the climate of college athletics today, that’s a perfect storm.”