College Basketball: Power Ranking the SEC Schools by Hoops Reputation

Adam FromalJun 7, 2018

While the SEC might get far more press for its on-field prowess and off-field notoriety during the football season, the conference has managed to produce some pretty good basketball teams.

There are definitely some bottom feeders in the SEC, but there's also one true blue blood and another school that is on its way toward earning that type of reputation.

With double-digits in the championship column and countless great players that have crossed through the gyms and arenas of these 12 schools, SEC basketball is pretty decent when it's all said and done.

But which programs are historically thought of as the greatest?

Read on to find out.

12. Mississippi Rebels

1 of 13

First Season: 1909

Zero Regular Season Conference Championships

Two Conference Tournament Championships: 1928, 1981

Zero NCAA Tournament Final Fours

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

The Mississippi Rebels have only made it to six NCAA tournaments and have a much more storied history in the NIT than anywhere else.

As harsh as this may sound, there really isn't too much to talk about when it comes to Ole Miss basketball history.

11. Auburn Tigers

2 of 13

First Season: 1905

Two Regular Season Conference Championships: 1960, 1999

One Conference Tournament Championships: 1985

Zero NCAA Tournament Final Fours

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

Maybe it would be different if Cam Newton had played basketball, but the Auburn Tigers basketball program is anything but storied.

Sure, Charles Barkley and Chuck Person played ball there, but the program is devoid of much success in its lengthy history.

10. Vanderbilt Commodores

3 of 13

First Season: 1900

Three Regular Season Conference Championships: 1965, 1974, 1993

Two Conference Tournament Championships: 1927, 1952

Zero NCAA Tournament Final Fours

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

The Vanderbilt Commodores have only made six Sweet 16 appearances and six Elite Eights, but they've never made it any further than that when it counts.

Vanderbilt has recently put together a nice string of successful seasons, but they are not very well thought of historically.

Legendary players and coaches haven't really called Nashville home too often.

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9. South Carolina Gamecocks

4 of 13

First Season: 1908

Seven Regular Season Conference Championships: 1927, 1933-1934, 1945, 1970, 1997, 2009

Two Conference Tournament Championships: 1933, 1971

Zero NCAA Tournament Final Fours

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

Other than during Frank McGuire's tenure at South Carolina, the basketball hasn't had too much success. Only a part of the SEC since 1992, most of the Gamecocks success came as a part of the Southern Conference.

Because most of the good seasons in the school's history came quite some time ago, South Carolina really doesn't have the greatest reputation when it comes to basketball.

8. Alabama Crimson Tide

5 of 13

First Season: 1912

Seven Regular Season Conference Championships: 1934, 1956, 1974-1976, 1987, 2002

Conference Tournament Championships: 1934, 1982, 1987, 1989-1991

Zero NCAA Tournament Final Fours

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

They've flown under the radar a bit because of the strength of the football team, but the Alabama Crimson Tide have still been pretty successful over the course of their history.

Anthony Grant currently has the program on the rise and he'll attempt to have it reach the previous level of success. If there's a season he should try to emulate, it should be the 2002 one when the Crimson Tide reached the No. 1 spot in the AP rankings for the first and only time.

7. Georgia Bulldogs

6 of 13

First Season: 1891

One Regular Season Conference Championship: 1990

Two Conference Tournament Championships: 1983, 2008

One NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1983

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

Always thought of as a football school, the Georgia Bulldogs have earned that reputation for a reason.

Until the 1983 season when Dominique Wilkins led the Bulldogs to the Final Four, the team really didn't have much success at all. Since then, the best moment was the crazy 2008 SEC Tournament, when the Dream Dawgs shocked the rest of the conference to secure an automatic bid.

Mark Fox has this program trending in the right direction, but the basketball reputation isn't there yet.

6. Mississippi State Bulldogs

7 of 13

First Season: 1908

Six Regular Season Conference Championships: 1959, 1961-1963, 1991, 2004

Four Conference Tournament Championships: 1923, 1996, 2002, 2009

One NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1996

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

The Mississippi State Bulldogs have one of the better reputations in the much-weaker SEC West, but it still pales in comparison to the big dogs of the conference. In fact, the Bulldogs have taken him the SEC West title seven times, more than any other school.

A lot of good NBA players, most notably Bailey Howell, Monta Ellis, Travis Outlaw and Erick Dampier, have made their way through the Mississippi State program.

5. Tennessee Volunteers

8 of 13

First Season: 1908

Nine Regular Season Conference Championships: 1936, 1941, 1943, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 2000, 2008

Four Conference Tournament Championships: 1936, 1941, 1943, 1979

Zero NCAA Tournament Final Fours

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

Even though players like Bernard King and Allan Houston have used the Tennessee program as a springboard to the NBA, the men's basketball program has never had the same reputation as the women's team.

The Volunteers have been successful within the conference, but with no Final Four appearances in the program's history, it's hard for them to rise any higher than this.

4. Arkansas Razorbacks

9 of 13

First Season: 1924

24 Regular Season Conference Championships: 1926-1930, 1935-1936, 1938, 1941-1942, 1944, 1949-1950, 1958, 1977-1979, 1981-1982, 1989-1992, 1994

Seven Conference Tournament Championships: 1977, 1979, 1982, 1989-1991, 2000

Six NCAA Tournament Final Fours: 1941, 1945, 1978, 1990, 1994-1995

One NCAA Tournament Championship: 1994

Although the Arkansas Razorbacks have been absent from the SEC title conversation for about a decade now, don't discount what the program has achieved in the past.

Although most of the damage was done when the school was a part of the Southwest Conference, the success still remains. After all, the Razorbacks were once just a game away from wining back-to-back NCAA tournament championships.

3. LSU Tigers

10 of 13

First Season: 1909

10 Regular Season Conference Championships: 1935, 1953-1954, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1991, 2000, 2006, 2009

One Conference Tournament Championships 1980

Four NCAA Tournament Final Fours: 1953, 1981, 1986, 2006

Zero NCAA Tournament Championships

LSU may have slipped recently, but some legendary players have passed through the halls of this school in Baton Rouge. They include Shaquille O'Neal, Bob Petit and none other than "Pistol" Pete Maravich.

Despite the talent that has played for the Tigers, the school has still never won a championship. Maybe it's for this reason that the basketball reputation lags well behind the football one.

2. Florida Gators

11 of 13

First Season: 1915

Five Regular Season Conference Championships: 1989, 2000-2001, 2007, 2011

Three Conference Tournament Championships: 2005-2007

Four NCAA Tournament Final Fours: 1994, 2000, 2006-2007

Two NCAA Tournament Championships: 2006-2007

The Florida Gators didn't have any success at all until the 1980-1981 season. Before then, the Gators managed to finish above fourth in the SEC just twice.

But in the modern era, the Gators have been a perennial tournament team. They've made March Madness 16 times since 1987 and won back-to-back championships under Billy Donovan in 2006 and 2007.

They've had recent success, but Florida is still thought of as a football school first and foremost.

1. Kentucky Wildcats

12 of 13

First Season: 1903

46 Regular Season Conference Championships: 1926, 1932-1933, 1935, 1937, 1939-1940, 1942, 1944-1952, 1954-1955, 1957-1958, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968-1973, 1975, 1977-1978, 1980, 1982-1984, 1986, 1995-1996, 1998, 2000-2001, 2003, 2005, 2010

28 Conference Tournament Championships: 1921, 1933, 1937, 1939-1940, 1942, 1944-1950, 1952, 1984, 1986, 1992-1995, 1997-1999, 2001, 2003-2004, 2010-2011

14 NCAA Tournament Final Fours: 1942, 1948-1949, 1951, 1958, 1966, 1975, 1978, 1984, 1993, 1996-1998, 2011

Seven NCAA Tournament Championships: 1948-1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998

There isn't a single period in college basketball history that you can find that will be devoid of a good Kentucky basketball team.

From Adolph Rupp's legendary days in Lexington to John Calipari's current one-and-done system, the Wildcats have always been good.

Kentucky has the most wins and the highest winning percentage of any college basketball team in the nation, not just the SEC.

Yeah, I think they deserve the No. 1 spot.