What happened to SEC men’s basketball teams in opening rounds of 2025 NCAA Tournament?
Over the last few days, the SEC has put its reputation as the best conference in men’s college basketball on the line. The SEC set a record this year by placing 14 of its schools into the 68-team NCAA Tournament field. This broke the previous March Madness record of 11 teams from one conference, set by the Big East Conference in 2011. LSU and South Carolina were the only SEC schools that didn’t make the national postseason this year.
By having 14 schools in the Big Dance, the SEC made up 20.6% of March Madness entrants. How did the opening rounds of the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament go for those 14 SEC teams? In total, the SEC went 11-7 in the First Four, round of 64 and round of 32 — so far — in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Following Saturday’s games, three SEC schools — Arkansas, Auburn and Tennessee — have secured a spot in the Sweet 16.
Four other SEC schools will also have the chance to advance to the Sweet 16 on Sunday, including Kentucky.
Here are the SEC winners and losers from the first days of March Madness.
SEC schools that won their first game in 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament Auburn and Florida, the two SEC schools that were No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament, both cruised to victory in their first-round contests.
Auburn struggled early before easing its way to an 83-63 win over No. 16 seed Alabama State in an opening-round game that was played at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Tigers then went on to beat No. 9 seed Creighton, 82-70, on Saturday night in Lexington to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. Previously, the Bluejays had upset No. 8 seed Louisville in the first round.
Florida had no issues whatsoever in a 95-69 crushing of No. 16 seed Norfolk State in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Gators will face No. 8 seed UConn, the two-time defending national champions, on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Both of the SEC schools that were given No. 2 seeds — Alabama and Tennessee — also triumphed in the first round. Alabama was pushed all the way by No. 15 seed Robert Morris, but the Crimson Tide came away with a 90-81 win over the Colonials in Cleveland. Alabama will play No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s on Sunday for a Sweet 16 spot.
Also advancing as a No. 2 seed was Tennessee. Rick Barnes’ Volunteers kept No. 15 seed Wofford — coached by former UK walk-on Dwight Perry — at arm’s length in a 77-62 win on Thursday night in Lexington. Tennessee then beat No. 7 seed UCLA on Saturday at Rupp Arena by a 67-58 final score to earn a spot in the regional semifinals.
Also moving on to the second round of March Madness? The Kentucky Wildcats. Mark Pope picked up his first March Madness win as a head coach Friday night in UK’s 76-57 rout of Troy in Milwaukee. The No. 3 seed Wildcats led for more than 36 minutes against the No. 14 seed Trojans, a welcomed change compared to some of UK’s recent NCAA Tournament performances.
UK will play No. 6 seed Illinois for a Sweet 16 berth on Sunday. The winner of that matchup will face Tennessee in the Sweet 16, which means that a third installment of the UK-Tennessee rivalry series could take place with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.
Another highly rated SEC squad that won its NCAA Tournament opener was No. 4 seed Texas A&M, which beat No. 13 seed Yale 80-71 on Thursday in Denver. But, the Aggies lost to No. 5 seed Michigan on Saturday, as Texas A&M’s season ended in the round of 32.
Despite leading by as many as 22 points, No. 6 seed Ole Miss was taken to the wire by No. 11 seed North Carolina in a game that Ole Miss eventually won by seven points in Milwaukee. Ole Miss will face No. 3 seed Iowa State in the round of 32 on Sunday.
Last, but certainly not least, let’s talk about John Calipari. Coach Cal and No. 10 seed Arkansas were the only double-digit seed SEC school to win a game in the first round. The Hogs topped No. 7 seed Kansas 79-72 on Thursday night to set up a dream second-round matchup against No. 2 seed St. John’s, coached by Rick Pitino, on Saturday. The Razorbacks then won that headline contest over the Red Storm, and Calipari’s Hogs are now heading to the Sweet 16 in San Francisco.
SEC schools that lost their first game in 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament
Only two SEC schools — Missouri and Mississippi State — suffered upset losses in the first round of March Madness, according to the seed lines.
Missouri, a No. 6 seed, lost to No. 11 seed Drake 67-57 on Thursday night in Wichita, Kansas. Mississippi State, a No. 8 seed, lost to No. 9 seed Baylor 75-72 on Friday afternoon in Raleigh. Three SEC schools that were underdogs, by seed lines, all lost their NCAA Tournament games. No. 9 seed Oklahoma was turned back by two-time defending national champions UConn 67-59 on Friday night in Raleigh.
No. 9 seed Georgia was eviscerated by No. 8 seed Gonzaga 89-68 on Thursday in Wichita. And No. 10 seed Vanderbilt had a chance to tie the game with just seconds remaining, but the Commodores missed a 3-pointer that would have sent the game to overtime in a 59-56 loss to No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s in Cleveland
Texas, the lone SEC school that was selected to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio failed to advance from the field of 68 to the traditional field of 64: The Longhorns lost 86-80 to Xavier in a play-in game on Wednesday night.
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