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SAN ANTONIO — SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was all smiles as he mingled with coaches and media members at the Alamodome. After all, he had no reason to worry—the two SEC programs that made the men’s Final Four were playing each other in the first semifinal of the night, guaranteeing an SEC program in the national championship.
In the end, Florida secured the spot in Monday’s national championship after fighting off the overall top-seed Auburn Tigers, with a final score of 79-73.
The Gators put together a championship-caliber roster by relying heavily on advanced analytics to find players who were “under-recruited” out of high school or under-rated in the transfer portal. One of their transfer portal gems, Walter Clayton Jr., led the Gators in scoring Saturday night with 34 points. He was followed by fellow transfer Alijah Martin, who notched 17 points.
“We’ve never gotten a single player because we’re the highest bidder,” Florida director of basketball strategy and analytics Jonathan Safir told Front Office Sports.
Beyond just Florida’s win, the SEC have had quite a weekend on both the men’s and women’s sides. Sankey was in Tampa Friday night to watch South Carolina take on Texas in the women’s Final Four…yet another all-SEC game, thanks to conference realignment. South Carolina will take on UConn Sunday afternoon in the national championship, and Sankey indicated on X he would be flying back to cheer on the Gamecocks.
A record 14 SEC teams made the Big Dance, and the league earned a record 22 wins before the Final Four even began. The SEC then earned $70 million in NCAA “units”—more than any other conference in the history of the Field of 68. (The SEC also sent 11 teams to the women’s tournament, and earned millions for that success thanks to a new women’s units program.)
It’s unclear how SEC programs will continue that success if the House v. NCAA settlement is approved before next season. If it is, schools would be able to share up to $20.5 million with all the athletes in their athletic departments—potentially handing an advantage to schools without FBS programs who don’t have to share those funds with their football teams.
Whether or not the Gators cut down the nets Monday night, there’s no denying the SEC’s dominance this year.
