At least in Year 1, it definitely seems like the Oklahoma Sooners have joined the best.
Last summer, OU and Red River rival Texas left the Big 12 for the SEC for more money and presumably stiffer competition, especially in football for two Blue Blood programs. Tougher competition in football was assured in the SEC, but in the midst of their first year in the conference, the Sooners and Longhorns have battled through gauntlets in nearly every sport.
In a time when winter and spring sports collide, SEC teams make up a majority of the top 5 teams in five different sports right now, with OU either thriving or feeling the consequences in each one.
Built different. Ranked accordingly. 😤@SEC teams currently occupy 18 of the 25 possible spots in the Top 5 of national polls across men's basketball, women's basketball, gymnastics, softball, and baseball.#ItJustMeansMore pic.twitter.com/z6gqlyj1pc
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) February 11, 2025
Men's basketball has been garnering the most attention with the chance to be the most dominant group of college basketball teams in the same conference in decades. In Week 15 with less than a month left of the regular season, both major rankings feature four SEC teams in the top 5.
At the top, Auburn is No. 1 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, while in-state rival Alabama is atop the USA Today Men's Basketball Coaches Poll. They will clash Saturday night to be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 regular-season meeting in men's college basketball since 2008. It's the first-ever matchup of its kind in SEC history.
And the SEC isn't just top-heavy in men's basketball. The latest AP Top 25 included nine SEC teams, and Joe Lunardi predicts 13 teams from the conference to make the NCAA Tournament in his latest ESPN Bracketology.
That has the Sooners finishing up a streak of five straight ranked opponents. Then, after playing LSU on Saturday, OU will again play five ranked teams in a row.
ESPN Bracketology also projects 10 SEC teams to make the Women's NCAA Tournament, which is second behind the Big Ten's 12.
The latest USA Today Women's Basketball Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 both have three SEC teams in the top 5 (No. 3 Texas, No. 4 South Carolina and No. 5 LSU). The Sooners are currently the lowest they've been all season at No. 16 after enduring a conference schedule with five ranked opponents already.
The SEC women are dominating in every sport, though, not just basketball. The first ESPN / USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 of the season had four SEC teams in the top 5 with No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 5 Texas A&M.
In total, there were 12 SEC squads inside the top 25, as SEC teams went 75-7 during opening weekend.
Women's gymnastics also has three SEC teams at the top in Oklahoma, LSU and Florida, respectively.
And there's still more to come from the SEC's dominance.
College baseball starts this weekend, with four SEC teams making up the top 5 of the USA Today Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll (No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU and No. 5 Alabama).
The Volunteers beat the Aggies in last year's Men's College World Series Championship Series. The Women's College World Series final included OU and Texas in both schools' last event before joining the SEC.
Postseasons will be telling in the SEC's true dominance, proving it to be true or just the infamous SEC bias. But if things hold true, the SEC will prove it didn't just expand as a conference, but evolved.