Established on December 8-9, 1932, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) had thirteen founding members (ten of which remain today). The original members were Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, University of the South (Sewanee), Georgia Tech and Tulane.
Sewanee left the conference in 1940 and later de-emphasized athletics. Georgia Tech left the SEC in 1964, and Tulane departed from the conference in 1966.
In 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve teams with the addition of South Carolina and Arkansas. With the expansion to twelve teams, the conference also divided into two six-team divisions.
In 2012, Missouri and Texas A&M joined the SEC bringing the total teams to 14. To maintain the previous division breakdown, Missouri joined the SEC East and Texas A&M joined the SEC West.
The SEC was the first conference to host a championship game at the end of the regular season. Since 1992, the SEC Championship Game has pitted the winner of the SEC East versus the SEC West. After two years of playing the championship game at Legion field in Birmingham, the game has been played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta since 1994.
The SEC is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
N.W. Dougherty (1947-1948) – Dougherty stepped in as acting SEC Commissioner when Martin Conner stepped down. Dougherty served until Bernie Moore was named as replacement.
Bernie Moore (1948-1966) – Before leading the SEC, Moore was the head football coach at Mercer and LSU. Bernie Moore was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1952.
A.M. “Tonto” Coleman (1966-1972) – Coleman was an assistant football coach at the University of Florida and Georgia Tech before becoming SEC Commissioner in 1966.
H. Boyd McWhorter (1972-1986) – McWhorter served as a Dean at the University of Georgia prior to leading the Southeastern Conference. McWhorter is credited with beginning the relationship with the Sugar Bowl which gave an automatic bid to the conference champion each year. With a new broadcasting arrangement with TBS, McWhorter led an extraordinary revenue growth for the conference during his tenure.
Harvey W. Schiller (1986-1989) – Schiller has a resume unlike any other. In addition to his role as SEC Commissioner, Schiller is a Vietnam war veteran, former head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, President of Turner Sports and even had a stint overseeing the WCW wrestling league.
Mark Womack (1988-1989) – Womack served two terms as Acting Commissioner of the SEC. First, he served when Harvey Schiller took leave to serve as the Executive Director of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Second, Womack filled in as commissioner when Schiller stepped down prior to Roy Kramer being hired.
Roy F. Kramer (1990-2002) – Before serving as the SEC Commission in 1990, Kramer was the head football coach at Central Michigan and Athletic Director at Vanderbilt.
Michael Slive (2002-2014) – Before overseeing the golden age of SEC football, Slive served as commissioner of conference USA and the Great Midwest Conference. As Commissioner of the SEC, Slive has overseen the expansion from 12 to 14 teams, the launch of the SEC television network and a historic run of football national championships.
