The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a college athletic conference which operates in the southeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I-A.

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. Ten of the thirteen charter members have remained in the conference since its inception: the universities of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; and Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt universities. The other charter members were:

• 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. Joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1978, where it continues to reside.
• Tulane: Left the SEC in 1966. Remained an independent in football until it became a charter member of Conference USA in 1995.

The SEC expanded from 10 to 12 members in 1991 with the addition of the University of Arkansas from the Southwest Conference and the University of South Carolina from the independent ranks. 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.

Current members (and year joined)

East Division

• University of Florida (1932)
• University of Georgia (1932)
• University of Kentucky (1932)
• University of South Carolina (1991)
• University of Tennessee (1932)
• Vanderbilt University (1932)

West Division

• University of Alabama (1932)
• University of Arkansas (1991)
• Auburn University (1932)
• Louisiana State University (1932)
• University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (1932)
• Mississippi State University (1932)

Sports sponsored

• 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 MSU and Vanderbilt)
• Women's Track & Field
• Men's Swimming and Diving (except MSU, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas)
• Women's Swimming and Diving (except MSU, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt)
• Men's Tennis
• Women's Tennis
• Men's Golf
• Women's Golf
• (Women's) Gymnastics (Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU)

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.

College Football Rivalries in the SEC

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 (with travelling trophies or special names in parentheses):

• ¹ Played in Jacksonville. Now officially referred to as the "Florida-Georgia Game" due to sensitivity about consumption of alcohol by college students.
• ² 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.
• ³ For 74 years the trophy of this game was an orange, white, and blue beer keg, but this practice was discontinued in 1999 following the aforementioned DUI accident.

Each school has a permanent rival from the other division which it plays each year in football (though this may or may not reflect a traditional rivalry). Each East Division school's permanent rival from the West Division:

• Florida--LSU
• Georgia--Auburn
• Kentucky--Mississippi State
• South Carolina--Arkansas
• Tennessee--Alabama
• Vanderbilt--Ole Miss

Rivalries in Other Sports in the SEC

The top athletic priority in virtually all SEC schools is football, with one glaring exception. Kentucky, which has one of the most storied basketball traditions in the country, is also one of only two Division I-A schools to earn more revenue from its basketball program than its football program. (The other is Arizona.) Vanderbilt also places more emphasis on basketball vis-a-vis football than most other SEC schools, though not at the level of UK.

Despite the conference-wide emphasis on football, several rivalries have developed in other sports:

• Kentucky-Louisville, men's basketball

This rivalry, unlike most that involve SEC schools, is relatively recent. For nearly 60 years, UK refused to schedule U of L in the regular season in either basketball or football. After a pulsating U of L victory over UK in the final of the 1983 Mideast Regional in the NCAA basketball tournament, pressure mounted on UK to schedule U of L; 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 Wildcats coach Rick Pitino (although he was not hired directly from UK). An annual football game between the two schools was added in the 1990s; unlike most in-state rivalry games that end the regular season for both teams, the UK-U of L football game is the season opener for both.

• Kentucky-Indiana, men's basketball

A historic "border war" between two of the sport's giants.

• Kentucky-Florida, men's basketball

This has become a major rivalry in recent years with the rise of the Florida basketball program under Billy Donovan, a former UK assistant under Pitino.

• Tennessee-UConn, women's basketball

The Lady Vols have historically been one of 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.

• Alabama-Mississippi State, men's basketball

Not only are these two schools are 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.

• Alabama-Georgia, women's gymnastics

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.

National Championships

*The NCAA does not recognize a National Champion for Division I-A football. This listing represents championships awarded by a variety of otherorganizations.

External Links

• Official Site of the Southeastern Conference