Despite a slightly down year last season, the SEC has become a much stronger conference in the past couple of years.  Florida, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt have all established, or at least begun to establish, themselves as top basketball programs.

South Carolina is the only team in the SEC without a tournament victory.  They have certainly had their chances though, qualifying for the NCAA tournament four times in the past 24 years.  The Gamecocks fell victim to two major upsets in consecutive seasons.  They lost as a No. 2 seed in 1997 to No. 15-seeded Coppin State and as a No. 3 seed the next year to No. 14-seeded Richmond.

Top 50 Teams

10) Michigan State Spartans – Total Points: 655

• One NCAA Championship, three Final Four Appearances, one Elite Eight Appearance, four Sweet 16 Appearances, six Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-10

Very few teams have the talent, coaching, and luck to make it to the Final Four round three years in a row.  Michigan State was able to accomplish this feat in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

Led by point guard sensation Mateen Cleaves in the first two seasons and coach Tom Izzo in all three, the Spartans reached the Final Four as a No. 1 seed in 1999, won the championship as a No. 1 seed in 2000, and again reached the Final Four as a No. 1 seed in 2001.

Michigan State also has one other Final Four appearance.  They reached the semi-final round as a No. 5 seed in 2005 before being beaten handily by No. 1 seed and eventual champion UNC.

The Spartans do have six missed tournaments and five first round losses, enough to keep them from moving much higher in the rankings.

9) Georgetown Hoyas – Total Points: 690

• One Championship Game Appearance, one Final Four Appearance, three Elite Eight Appearances, three Sweet 16 Appearances, eight Missed Tournaments
• ESPN Rank: T-10

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