The SEC’s seven teams ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 are the most in the nation: Florida 1st, Texas 7th, Tennessee 8th, Arkansas 12th, Alabama 20th, Kentucky 23rd, and Vanderbilt 24th.

The SEC is the top-ranked conference entering the 2026-27 season, according to KenPom. The SEC has led the KenPom conference rankings in each of the last two seasons, including a record rating of +22.09 in 2025.

The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams ranked in the Top 30 of KenPom’s preseason team rankings. All 16 teams ranked in the Top 100.

Florida was the favorite to win the 2027 SEC championship in a preseason poll of media from around the league and nation. Texas was picked to finish second and is followed by Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama. Florida’s Thomas Haugh was selected by the media as the preseason player of the year.

The top two winningest active coaches in the nation reside within the SEC: Arkansas’ John Calipari (1st with 863 wins) and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes (2nd with 861 wins). Calipari ranks ninth all-time in Division I history while Barnes is 10th.

Twenty-four percent of the players on 2027 NBA Opening Day rosters that went to college attended SEC schools. The SEC led all conferences with 109 players on NBA Opening Day rosters.

The SEC’s 10 NCAA Tournament selections in 2026 were the third-highest total by a conference. The SEC set the record with 14 selections in 2025, and the Big East had 11 in 2011.

2026 was the second straight year the SEC advanced eight teams to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and the SEC finished 14-10 in the NCAA Tournament. Auburn won its first National Invitation Tournament championship — the SEC’s first NIT title since South Carolina in 2006 — and Oklahoma finished second in the College Basketball Crown championship.

Honors: Rueben Chinyelu (UF) was named NABC and Naismith Men’s College Defensive Player of the Year in 2026. Three of the five SEC players that earned All-America honors in 2026 return: Florida’s Thomas Haugh, Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner and Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu. Florida’s Todd Golden was named 2026 SEC Coach of the Year; Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. was SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

Fans: the SEC has led the nation in attendance in each of the last two seasons, averaging 11,648 fans per game in 2025 and 11,123 in 2026. Kentucky led the nation in total attendance in 2026 (355,165), Arkansas ranked third and Tennessee fourth.

The release also carries the full upcoming SEC schedule for the season’s opening week (Nov 5–10), including Wake Forest at No. 24 Vanderbilt (Nov 5, ESPN2), Jacksonville at No. 1 Florida (Nov 5), No. 12 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Virginia at the Capital Showcase in Washington, DC (Nov 8, ESPN), Florida at Florida State (Nov 10, ESPN2) and Kentucky vs. Kansas at the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago (Nov 10, ESPN).

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