Men’s NCAA Tournament bracket: SEC sets record with 14 teams as Auburn, Florida earn No. 1 seeds

In the SEC, success now translates to an unprecedented number of NCAA Tournament berths—more than any other conference has ever achieved.

On Selection Sunday, Auburn, Duke, Houston, and Florida secured No. 1 seeds for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, marking the first time in 45 years that the SEC has earned multiple top seeds. The conference also set a record with 14 teams making the tournament field.

“I truly believed all 14 teams deserved to be in, but you can never be certain until it’s official,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told The Athletic on Sunday night. “I wasn’t surprised, but I was certainly pleased with the recognition.”

Two-time defending national champion UConn (23-10) is aiming for a rare three-peat as a No. 8 seed in the West Region. The Huskies will open against Oklahoma, with a potential second-round matchup against Florida.

Auburn secured a No. 1 seed for only the second time in program history, last achieving the honor in 1999. As the overall top seed in this year’s tournament, Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers—led by national player of the year contender Johni Broome—will begin their journey on Thursday in Lexington, the home of SEC rival Kentucky, in pursuit of their first national title. Auburn’s first opponent will be the winner of a First Four clash between No. 16 seeds Alabama State and Saint Francis (Pa.).

Despite winning the SEC regular-season title with a 28-5 record, Auburn enters March Madness having dropped three of its last four games—all against ranked SEC opponents. This season has cemented the SEC’s status as arguably the deepest and strongest conference in college basketball history. While the SEC’s dominance in football has been slightly challenged by back-to-back Big Ten national titles, its basketball programs have never been stronger. The SEC posted a 59-19 record against teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East.

With 14 teams making the tournament, the newly expanded 16-team SEC shattered the previous record of 11 bids set by the Big East in 2011.

The sheer number of SEC teams presented a challenge for the NCAA selection committee, which had to carefully construct the bracket to minimize early-round intra-conference matchups.

“We didn’t adjust any team’s seed, but we had to strategically move teams within regions to avoid conflicts,” committee chairman and North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham explained on CBS’ bracket reveal show. “We made sure no more than four SEC teams were placed in any one region to spread them out as much as possible.”

Nine years ago, the SEC had only three teams in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons. Determined to elevate the conference’s basketball profile, Sankey enlisted former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese as an advisor, leading to a league-wide commitment to improving men’s basketball.

“We’ve seen new arenas at Auburn and Ole Miss, as well as major renovations at Kentucky, Florida, and Georgia. Every one of our 16 head coaches has NCAA Tournament experience, and six have reached the Final Four,” Sankey said. “It’s a testament to our athletic directors and our universities’ dedication to making men’s basketball as competitive as our women’s basketball, football, baseball, and softball programs.”

Duke (31-3) secured a No. 1 seed for the 15th time, tying Kansas for the second-most all-time, trailing only North Carolina. The Tar Heels’ tournament resume had been heavily debated, but they ultimately claimed an 11-seed and will face San Diego State in the First Four on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

Selection protocol required Cunningham to recuse himself from discussions about North Carolina (22-13), which played one of the toughest nonconference schedules but recorded only one Quad 1 win.

Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill, the committee’s vice chairman, explained North Carolina’s inclusion, revealing that the Tar Heels were the final at-large team selected—pending the outcome of Sunday’s American Athletic Conference championship.

“If UAB had won, Memphis would have received an at-large bid, and North Carolina would have been the first team left out,” Gill said.

Instead, West Virginia of the Big 12 was the first team excluded from the tournament, followed by Indiana, Ohio State (both from the Big Ten), and Boise State, which lost the Mountain West title game to Colorado State. The Rams were the tournament’s only bid thief, effectively taking Boise State’s spot.

The expanded 18-team ACC landed just four bids—the conference’s fewest since 2013.

Duke’s No. 1 seed is its first since 2019 and the first under head coach Jon Scheyer, who took over for five-time national champion Mike Krzyzewski three seasons ago. The Blue Devils will begin their tournament run in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. However, the availability of star freshman Cooper Flagg remains uncertain after he sprained his left ankle in Duke’s first ACC tournament game. Despite his absence, Duke went on to win the ACC championship, and Flagg is expected to be ready for the NCAA Tournament.

In the Midwest Region, Coach Kelvin Sampson has led Big 12 champion Houston (30-4) to a No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year. The Cougars will open against SIU Edwardsville on Thursday in Wichita, Kansas, as they chase their first Final Four appearance since 2021 and their first-ever national title.

Florida (30-4) secured the No. 1 seed in the West Region by defeating Tennessee in the SEC tournament championship. This marks the third time Florida has earned a top seed and the first since 2014, when Billy Donovan coached the Gators to the Final Four. Donovan led Florida to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. The last time the SEC had multiple No. 1 seeds was in 1980, when LSU and Kentucky achieved the feat. The conference’s most recent national champion was Kentucky in 2012.

Rick Pitino is back in the NCAA Tournament—this time with St. John’s (30-4), which won the Big East title and secured the No. 2 seed in the West. The Red Storm will face Summit League champion Omaha in the first round in Providence, Rhode Island. A potential second-round matchup against the winner of preseason No. 1 Kansas vs. Arkansas looms, setting up the possibility of a Pitino vs. John Calipari showdown between two longtime coaching rivals.

The 72-year-old Pitino becomes the first coach in history to lead six different programs to the NCAA Tournament, having previously guided Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, and Iona.

The SEC also claimed two No. 2 seeds, with Alabama joining Duke in the East Region and Tennessee trailing Houston in the Midwest.

New SEC member Texas barely made the cut, despite finishing with a 6-12 conference record. The Longhorns will face Xavier in a First Four matchup on Wednesday.

Oklahoma also secured an NCAA bid in its first SEC season, finishing with the same 6-12 league record. However, strong nonconference wins against Michigan, Arizona, and Louisville helped the Sooners earn their spot.

The 18-team Big Ten received the second-most bids, sending eight teams to the tournament.

In a sign of growing conference consolidation, only seven conferences received multiple bids. The SEC and Big Ten combined for 20 of the 37 available at-large spots, while the rest of the country claimed just 17.

The Big 12 secured seven bids, the Big East placed five teams, the Mountain West got four, and the West Coast Conference earned two, with Gonzaga and St. Mary’s both making the field.

Gonzaga extended its streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances to 26, the second-longest active streak behind Michigan State’s 27. The Spartans will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South Region behind Auburn. Meanwhile, Gonzaga, seeded ninth in the Midwest, will face Georgia in the first round, with a potential showdown against top-seeded Houston awaiting the winner.