SEC's Greg Sankey Expects Record 14 NCAA Tournament Bracket Bids for 'Unicorn League'

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Friday that he expects as many as 14 teams from his conference to make the NCAA men's basketball tournament this weekend.

Speaking to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Sankey said: "It's a unicorn league right now. We're not going to change our name, but we stand alone historically. And I think that'll be rewarded."

While conference tournaments still have to be finished Saturday and Sunday, ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi's latest projections have 13 SEC teams in the NCAA tournament field.

A 14th SEC team, Texas, is among Lunardi's first four teams out of the field currently.

The all-time record for the most teams from a single conference to be selected to the NCAA tournament is 11 set by the Big East in 2011.

It is all but certain that the SEC will break that record this year regardless of Texas' fate, but if the Longhorns get in, the SEC will shatter it.

In addition to quantity, the SEC is set to send plenty of quality into the NCAA tourney field as well.

Auburn, Florida and Alabama are all top-five teams in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, while Tennessee is No. 8, Texas A&M is No. 14 and Kentucky is No. 15.

Of the 16 teams in the SEC, 14 of them have at least 19 wins this season, and only LSU and South Carolina have losing records.

Collectively, the SEC has dominated other conferences this season, posting an .889 non-conference winning percentage. Most impressively, the SEC is 30-4 against the ACC, 14-2 against the Big 12 and 10-9 against the Big Ten.

Sankey also stressed the importance of Quad 1 wins, of which the Longhorns have seven this season, whereas North Carolina has only one.

Lunardi has North Carolina as his first team out of the NCAA tournament currently, one spot ahead of Texas.

No. 1 Auburn will face No. 4 Tennessee and No. 2 Florida will take on No. 3 Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC tournament on Saturday, and the winners will meet in the final on Sunday.

Then, Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, the SEC and all other teams across college basketball will learn their NCAA tournament fate when the bracket is revealed as part of Selection Sunday.