SEC Record in March Madness 2026: League’s Hopes to Repeat End With Tennessee’s Elite Eight Loss

The SEC has the most teams in the field once again, but will not place a team in the Final Four.

Mar 29, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Nate Ament (10) is double teamed by Michigan Wolverines guard Nimari Burnett (4) and guard Elliot Cadeau (3) in the first half during an Elite Eight game of the Midwest Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

The SEC had an incredibly competitive 2025–26 men’s basketball season, and the league was incredibly well represented in the NCAA tournament. However, the league will not see one of its teams cutting down the nets in the national championship game for a second straight year.

Once again, the SEC landed the most teams in the field, although this year’s 10 doesn’t quite stack up to the NCAA record 14 programs that went dancing a year ago. Florida, the defending national champion, earned a No. 1 seed. Behind them, there’s a bit of a gap, however, until Alabama and Arkansas, the SEC tournament champion, pop up on the No. 4-seed line. Vanderbilt, the runner-up in the conference tournament, is a No. 5 seed.

They’re joined by Tennessee (No. 6), Kentucky (No. 7), Georgia (No. 8), Texas A&M (No. 10) and Texas (No. 11), which advanced into the round of 64 with a First Four victory over NC State.

The Midwest Region has the heaviest SEC presence, with four programs looking to unseat No. 1 seed Michigan to reach the Final Four. Florida’s South Region and the West Region, helmed by Arizona, feature three SEC teams apiece. No SEC teams are competing in the East Region.

Darius Acuff Jr. led Arkansas to an impressive first-round victory against Hawai’i. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

SEC record in NCAA tournament ahead of the Elite Eight

The SEC got off to a strong start to March Madness, but have struggled in the later rounds and finish with a 14–10 record after No. 6 Tennessee was eliminated in the Elite Eight.

The Volunteers began their strong March Run by ending the Cinderella run of Miami (Ohio), physically dominating the one-loss MAC squad en route to a 78–56 victory, and kept it rolling in the second round with a 79–72 victory over Virginia behind 21 points and six assists from Ja’Kobi Gillespie. The Volunteers flexed their muscle in a 79–72 win over No. 2 Iowa State, 76–62. Their pursuit of the first Final Four in program history ended on Sunday, however, as Tennessee was thoroughly outclassed by Michigan in the Elite Eight, 95–62.

No. 4 Arkansas got things rolling for the SEC, maintaining the momentum from their impressive SEC tournament run to take down No. 13 Hawai’i, 97–78 behind 24 points from Darius Acuff Jr. The Razorbacks drew No. 12 High Points in the second-round and got all they could handle from the explosive Panthers, but Acuff put together another masterclass performance, scoring 36 points on 22 shots with six assists, including a number of big buckets down the stretch. Arkansas took home a 94–88 win. No. 1 Arizona proved to be too much for the Razorbacks, eliminating them in the Sweet 16, 109–88.

No. 5 Vanderbilt, which lost to Arkansas in the conference final, had a rocky start against No. 12 McNeese but used a strong second half to separate themselves from the Cowboys, winning 78–68. The Commodores could not quite make it to the Sweet 16, however, falling to No. 4 Nebraska on Saturday night in one of the best games of the tournament so far.

No. 11 Texas and No. 10 Texas A&M were seed-line underdogs entering their matchups, but both put together impressive showings. The Longhorns, who advanced out of the First Four, picked up their second win in three days, overcoming a 35-point, 10-rebound explosion by AJ Dybantsa of No. 6 BYU to win 79–71. The Aggies handled No. 7 Saint Mary’s from the jump, 63–50, behind 22 points and nine rebounds by Rashaun Agee. Texas A&M was no match for No. 2 Houston in the second round, but Texas pulled the only upset of the Saturday slate, taking down No. 3 Gonzaga 74–68. The Longhorns nearly followed it up with another upset, but could not overcome No. 2 Purdue, losing 79–77,.

Led by an impressive all-around performance by Labaron Philon Jr., No. 4 Alabama beat No. 13 Hofstra, 90–70. The Crimson Tide followed it up with a dominant 90–65 win over No. 5 Texas Tech. It was a quiet performance for Philon, but Alabama got an impressive showing from Latrell Wrightsell, who knocked down six three-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points. The Crimson Tide fell to No. 1 Michigan, 90–77, despite a 35-point outburst by Philon.

No. 1 Florida went off on offense, blasting No. 16 Prairie View A&M 114–55 in the first round, but had their quest for a repeat national title come to a close on Sunday at the hands of Iowa in a 73–72 stunner.

No. 7 Kentucky survived after a classic March Madness finish, beating No. 10 Santa Clara in an overtime classic, 89–84, but they struggled to follow it up, suffering the worst NCAA tournament loss that the program has experienced since Adolph Rupp’s final game in 1972, dropping 82–63 to Iowa State.

No. 8 Georgia was absolutely blitzed by No. 9 Saint Louis, falling 102–77 in a game that may have actually been more lopsided than that 25-point deficit relays.

No. 10 Missouri was the only SEC team to lose on Friday in the first round, seeing No. 7 Miami pull away late, 80–66.

What SEC teams are still alive?

None, after Sunday’s action. Tennessee was the final SEC team in the mix entering the Elite Eight, but after its loss to Michigan, the conference has been eliminated.

SEC March Madness schedule

All 10 SEC teams have been eliminated from the NCAA tournament and thus have no games left on the schedule. The full men’s NCAA tournament schedule and TV lineup is available here. Here is how the Final Four is shaping up:

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Location	Channel
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Illinois	Saturday, April 4	6:09 p.m.	Indianapolis	TBS
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 1 Arizona	Saturday, April 4	~8:30 p.m.	Indianapolis	TBS

Georgia basketball couldn’t contend with Saint Louis in the first round of the 2026 NCAA tournament. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Biggest wins and most disappointing losses

Texas was the surprise tournament winner out of the SEC. The Longhorns survived the First Four, overcame a monster performance by AJ Dybantsa to send BYU packing and pulled an impressive upset of Gonzaga, a consistent tournament performer under Mark Few, to reach the Sweet 16 in their first year under Sean Miller. Alabama’s dominant 90–65 thrashing of Texas Tech on Sunday is also a head-turner entering the second weekend.

The league’s first loss was a whopper, as Georgia was completely outclassed by Saint Louis. The Billikens got off to an impressive start this year, but had also tailed off down the stretch, ceding the Atlantic 10 to VCU (another Thursday upset winner, against North Carolina). On Thursday it looked like the rest they got did them good. Saint Louis didn’t even have a barrage of threes, converting on just 9-of-28 from deep, but were an impressive 58% of the field while holding the Bulldogs to 35% and just 26% from three.

How the SEC Compares to other conferences in the 2026 NCAA tournament

The SEC was off to the best start of any conference early on, but the Big Ten has taken over the Big Dance. The Midwestern-based league is 19–7, with more wins and fewer losses than the SEC’s 14–10. The Big Ten is also 5–0 in head-to-head matchups between the two leagues, with Iowa, Nebraska and Purdue eliminating Florida, Vanderbilt and Texas, respectively, and Michigan taking down Alabama and Tennessee. The Big 12 is 10–7 while the ACC is 6–7, with just Duke remaining in the Elite Eight. The Big East, represented by just three teams in the tournament, is 5–2 with UConn alive in the Elite Eight.

No mid-major programs made it to the Sweet 16.

---

More March Madness from Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.