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Will SEC set a record for most first-round wins in NCAA Tournament, too?

Chris Wright

By Chris Wright

Published:


The SEC has a league-record eight teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Four play Thursday. The remaining four start their quest Friday.

Is is possible that the league also could set a new standard for first-round wins? They’ll certainly have an opportunity.

The SEC’s record is 6, set in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, when its teams went 6-0. Two other years, the SEC won 5 first-round games (records don’t include play-in games).

ESPN’s BPI heavily favors 5 SEC teams to win their first-round game (Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Kentucky). Missouri (45.9 percent chance of winning) and Arkansas (41.8) are slight underdogs. BPI doesn’t like Alabama’s chances (36.4) of beating Virginia Tech.

Here’s the SEC’s annual first-round record from the past 20 years.

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Chris Wright
Chris Wright

Managing Editor

A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.

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