We’re here to preview the SEC season to come, but in many ways we still haven’t gotten over the SEC season that was. Fourteen NCAA Tournament bids. Four teams in the top six of the final KenPom.com rankings. A record 21 NCAA Tournament wins. Two Final Four participants, both of whom recorded some of the gaudiest efficiency numbers in modern history. One national champion.
The SEC was justifiably lauded all season. Many declared it the greatest league ever; the numbers backed it up. In November and December, it ran through the rest of the sport. In January and February, it captivated, and almost overstimulated, in its nightly quality. In March and April, it fulfilled its destiny. The totality of its success still boggles the mind.
This would be true of any league that had just pulled off what the SEC managed. But the SEC is, well, the SEC. Save a sarcastic usage “It” in “It just means more” has always been a stand-in for “football.” Basketball was a historic afterthought. The league used to regularly get three or four or five tournament bids; five was a solid year. Its coaches used to snipe at each other about scheduling better and raising the level and not being “jealous.” League office staff had to hire consultants to audit noncon scheduling plans. Football-giddy fans hardly seemed to notice or care. But investments were made, fans were engaged, good coaches were hired, facilities were built, NIL and portal resources were deployed. A decade later, here we are.
The 2025-26 SEC won’t be as good. It’s just not possible. Gravity will do its thing. There appear to be fewer no-brainer national title contenders here, for a start. (Though it’s worth noting the world-devouring Florida Gators began last season ranked 26th at KenPom. Tennessee was 13th. Lots of teams overachieved expectations, and could again.) Several programs are in transition, likely to take a step back, or both. But the SEC doesn’t need to be the Best Conference Ever™ to remain the best of the year to come.
Note: This is the latest in a series of power league and mid-major previews we’ll be running in the coming weeks. We skipped this in Buzzer’s first season, but last year found the preview process remains a) fun, b) popular and c) the best way for the author to make sure he knows what guys are on which rosters come November. Team ranks are vague, in broad tiers, and not to be taken super seriously.
Also! If you’d like to hear me talk at length about the 2025-26 SEC, and flesh out some of the ideas below with an expert, check out this episode of the Basket Under Review podcast with Blake Lovell.
Lonely at the top
Florida Gators
First things first: Remember that massive, dominant, unstoppable frontcourt that just won the national title? It’s back. It’s all back. Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Ruben Chinyelu, Micah Handlogten (whose name we still can’t help but pronounce “Hang-glot-ten,” which is probably wrong): back. These four were the primary reasons Florida was one of the best rim-protecting and offensive rebounding teams in the country a season ago, the coal-fired engine churning beneath all that Walter Clayton beauty up top. (They were this guy, basically. Similar dimensions, too.)
They stormed through an immense SEC, gobbled up Johni Broome (15 points, 12 shots) in the Final Four, held Houston in check in the title game, and altered the face of college basketball. Having any two of these guys back would have been enough to keep Florida in the back-to-back conversation. All four is pure greed.
It does present some questions, though. Splitting minutes was a bit tricky last season, because Florida played with those three incredible guards basically all of the time:
So: Where does Thomas Haugh fit in?
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