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2025 NCAA tournament: Greg Sankey reacts to SEC breaking March Madness wins record

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•03/29/25•

ChandlerVessels

greg sankey (1)
Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Greg Sankey took a victory lap Saturday after the SEC made NCAA Tournament history. With Florida defeating Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, the conference reached 20 wins for the entire tournament, setting a new record.

Sankey reacted to the news on X, quoting a tweet from Matt Norlander. It’s safe to safe the SEC commissioner is feeling pretty good about his league, which backed up claims that it was the best in the country this year.

“Keep. Playing. Great. Basketball,” Sankey wrote.

The SEC still has Alabama facing off against Duke in the Elite Eight on Saturday evening. Additionally, Tennessee and Auburn have their own Elite Eight matches on Sunday. That means there’s still plenty of opportunity for the league to potentially add to its NCAA Tournament win total.

This year marked the most teams that the SEC has ever gotten in the NCAA Tournament with 14. A total of seven teams from the conference made the Sweet Sixteen, setting another record, and four of the Elite Eight teams were from the SEC.

The possibility of an all-SEC Final Four is even on the table if the Crimson Tide, Volunteers and Tigers can win their respective games. No conference in March Madness history has ever swept the Final Four field.

Sankey will have even more to celebrate if that happens, as it would mean the league would have wrapped up the national championship before the game was even set. For now, he’s still got plenty to talk about.

Walter Clayton’s clutch 3-pointer propels Florida to Elite Eight win, Final Four berth vs. Texas Tech

Walter Clayton was the hero for Florida on Saturday, capping off a comeback to punch the Gators’ ticket to the Final Four. After trailing much of the way in the final minutes against Texas Tech, Clayton nailed a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining to give Florida a one-point lead in an eventual 84-79 win.

Things were tied up at 55 with around 11 minutes remaining before the Red Raiders went on a 12-2 run to take a double-digit lead with 7:49 left. A dunk from Federiko Federiko forced Florida to call a timeout.

Florida trailed by nine points with 3:14 to go, but the Gators refused to go away. Thomas Haugh hit a 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining to cut the lead to 75-69. That would be the beginning of a four straight triples for the Gators in a wild comeback sequence.

Clayton also hit a 3-pointer with 1:45 remaining to tie the game at 75 before Texas Tech answered on the other end to retake the lead. But Clayton fired right back and finished with a game-high 30 points.

Florida is still the only team from the SEC to make the Final Four so far this NCAA Tournament as Alabama lost to Duke late Saturday evening. But Auburn and Tennessee both still have chances in their games Sunday.