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Southeastern Conference
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| Wikipedia: Southeastern Conference |
| Southeastern Conference | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Data | |
| Classification | NCAA Division I FBS |
| Established | 1932 |
| Members | 12 |
| Sports fielded | 17 (8 men's, 9 women's) |
| Region | Southern United States |
| States | 9 - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Locations | |
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The Southeastern Conference (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 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 a record $122 million for the 2006-2007 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.[3][4] Ten of the thirteen charter members have remained in the conference since its
inception: the University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Georgia,
University of Kentucky, University of
Mississippi, University of Tennessee, Auburn University, Louisiana State University,
- 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.
In 1991, the SEC expanded from 10 to 12 members with the addition of:
- University of Arkansas (see Arkansas Razorbacks for team history prior to SEC)
- University of South Carolina (see South Carolina Gamecocks for team history prior to SEC).
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] It was held at Birmingham's Legion Field the first two years and at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta thereafter.[6]
SEC Commissioners
The office of Commissioner was created in 1940[7]
- Martin S. Conner 1940-1946
- N.W. Dougherty acting commissioner 1946
- Bernie Moore 1948-1966
- A. M. (Tonto) Coleman 1966-1972
- Dr. H. Boyd McWhorter 1972-1986
- Dr. Harvey W. Schiller 1986-1989
- Roy F. Kramer 1990-2002
- Michael Slive 2002-present
Current members
The SEC currently has twelve member institutions in nine Southeastern states.[8] The geographic domain of the conference stretches from Arkansas to South Carolina (west to east) and from Kentucky to Florida. (north to south) 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 in the nation.
The conference is divided into two geographic divisions: the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The twelve current members of the Southeastern Conference are:
- * Enrollment figures include both undergraduate and graduate students.
Sports
The Southeastern Conference sponsors championships in many different sports.
- 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 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) - Men's Tennis
- Women's Tennis
- Men's Golf
- Women's Golf
- Women's Gymnastics (Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU only)
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.[9]
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.[10]
Conference sports facilities
- ^ One men's home game per year played at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
- ^ New stadium scheduled to open for 2008 season.
- ^ 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.
- ^ New Alex Box Stadium scheduled to open for 2009 season.
- ^ 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.[11]
Football
Prior to 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 prior to SEC expansion in 1992.[12] The following table shows the permanant opponent for each school:
| West Division | East Division |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Tennessee |
| Arkansas | South Carolina |
| Auburn | Georgia |
| LSU | Florida |
| Mississippi State | Kentucky |
| Ole Miss | Vanderbilt |
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 LSU-Florida, Alabama-Tennessee, and Auburn-Georgia 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, prior to 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).
Championship Game
The SEC Championship Game is held by the Southeastern Conference each year. The championship game pits the Southeastern East Division champion against the West Division champion in a game held after the regular season has been completed. The first championship game was during the 1992 season. 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.
Bowl Tie-ins
The bowl tie-ins for the SEC for the 2007 season are:
- Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA (vs. BCS) -
has hosted all SEC teams but
Mississippi State , South Carolina and Vanderbilt - Capital One Bowl in Orlando, FL (vs. Big 10)
- Outback Bowl in Tampa, FL (vs. Big 10)
- Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX (vs. Big 12)
- Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, GA (vs. ACC)
- Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN (vs. Conference USA)
- Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN (vs. ACC)
- Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA (vs. Big 12)
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 a preference on teams from the Western Division while the Outback Bowl has a preference on teams in the Eastern Division.
Rivalries
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:
^ Trophy first awarded
in 1996.
^ Series was annual rivalry when
Arkansas and Texas were both in theSouthwest Conference. Teams have played only
twice in regular season since Arkansas joined the SEC.
^ 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.
^ Series has only been played
twice in regular season since 1987.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
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.
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 Bear Bryant Offense |
Defense |
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. Prior to 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.
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 Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana or Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rivalries
There are a number of rivalries that have developed in basketball for the Southeastern Conference.
- 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 has cooled in recent years as the Razorbacks have slipped toward the middle of the pack in the SEC West. The all-time record in this rivalry is 21-7 in Kentucky's favor.
- 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). Kentucky holds an 84-30 advantage in the series.
- 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, unlike most that involve SEC schools, is relatively recent. For nearly 60 years, UK refused to schedule UofL in the regular season in either basketball or football. After a pulsating UofL victory over UK in the Mideast Regional final in the 1983 NCAA basketball tournament, pressure mounted on UK to schedule UofL; 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). Former UK head coach Tubby Smith is a former UK assistant under Pitino, and reportedly recommended Pitino to Louisville. The Wildcats hold a 26-12 lead in the all-time series.
- 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 95 miles separate them - but their respective head coaches, Mark Gottfried and Rick Stansbury, often battle each other for the same recruits.
- 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 new basketball superpower Florida.
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.
Other Sports
Besides football and men's basketball, there are a number of other sports in which the Southeastern conference actively competes.
Rivalries
- The Lady Vols have historically been 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. Connecticut also defeated Tennessee in the 1995 Championship game, the Huskies' first-ever title. For more information, see UConn-Tennessee rivalry.
- 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. Georgia has won seven national championships to Alabama's four.
- 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 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.
- LSU-
Mississippi State , baseball
- Prior to 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. This success in Omaha has been a constant source of irritation to the State faithful, who still are waiting for their first national championship trophy in Starkville. These two programs are also among only a handful in college baseball to turn a profit (fellow SEC rivals Ole Miss and Arkansas are others), as financial red ink has forced many schools in BCS conferences (such as Colorado, Iowa State, Oregon and Wisconsin) to drop the sport.
- 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 16 National Titles since 1981 (9 for Texas, 7 for Auburn) and have won every single title since 1999. The two regularly face off in a meet during the regular season, Auburn owns a 11-7 record over the Longhorns. Texas is the only team to beat Auburn since 2001.
National Championships
Since its founding in 1932, and the first full academic year of competition in 1933, SEC members have won a total of 160 team national championships.[13]
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.
See also
- List of Southeastern Conference Champions
- List of SEC National Champions
- List of SEC men's basketball tournament locations
- SEC Championship Game
- SEC Tournament
- SEC on CBS
References
- ^ 2006-2007 SEC Revenue Distribution. Southeastern Conference (2007-06-01). Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
- ^ http://www.secsports.com/new/local/commissioner_070202.html
- ^ http://www.onlineseats.com/college-basketball-tickets/sec-tournament/index.asp
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/nolefan_fsu/summary/fsu_sec.html
- ^ http://www.secsports.com/index.php?change_well_id=9993&s
- ^ http://www.secsports.com/index.php?change_well_id=9993&s
- ^ http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=22&url_article_id=9250&change_well_id=2
- ^ http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=9998
- ^ Title IX rules related to SEC participation. The Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
- ^ http://conferenceusa.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/
- ^ http://msuinfo.ur.msstate.edu/alumnus/fall.99/25attendance.htm
- ^ http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=317
- ^ National Titles Held by the SEC. Southeastern Conference. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
External links
- Official Site of the Southeastern Conference
- Aerial and Satellite Photography of SEC Stadiums from SightseeBySpace.com
| NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences: |
| Atlantic Coast Conference* – Big 12 Conference* – Big East Conference* – Big Ten Conference* – Conference USA – Mid-American Conference – Mountain West Conference – Pacific-10 Conference* – Southeastern Conference* – Sun Belt Conference – Western Athletic Conference – Independents |
| *Conference champion receives an automatic BCS bid |
| Southeastern Conference | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Division |
Florida (Gators) • Georgia (Bulldogs & Lady Bulldogs) • Kentucky (Wildcats) • South Carolina (Gamecocks) • Tennessee (Volunteers & Lady Vols) • Vanderbilt (Commodores) |
| Western Division |
Alabama (Crimson Tide) • Arkansas (Razorbacks & Lady'Backs) •
Auburn (Tigers) • LSU (Tigers & Lady Tigers)
• Mississippi (Rebels) •
|
| Football Stadiums of the Southeastern Conference | |
|---|---|
| Eastern | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Florida) • Commonwealth Stadium (Kentucky) • Neyland Stadium (Tennessee) • Sanford Stadium (Georgia) • Vanderbilt Stadium (Vanderbilt) • Williams-Brice Stadium (South Carolina) |
| Western | Bryant-Denny Stadium (Alabama) •
Davis Wade Stadium ( |
| Basketball Arenas of the Southeastern Conference | |
|---|---|
| Eastern | Colonial Center (South Carolina) • Memorial Coliseum (Kentucky women) • Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt) • Rupp Arena (Kentucky men) • Stegeman Coliseum (Georgia) • Stephen C. O'Connell Center (Florida) • Thompson-Boling Arena (Tennessee) |
| Western | Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum (Auburn) •
Bud Walton Arena (Arkansas) •
Coleman Coliseum (Alabama) •
Humphrey Coliseum ( |
| Baseball Stadiums of the Southeastern Conference | |
|---|---|
| Eastern | Cliff Hagan Stadium (Kentucky) • Foley Field (Georgia) • Hawkins Field (Vanderbilt) • Lindsey Nelson Stadium (Tennessee) • McKethan Stadium (Florida) • Sarge Frye Field (South Carolina) |
| Western | Alex
Box Stadium (LSU) • Baum
Stadium (Arkansas) • Dudy Noble Field ( |