Jimmy Dykes: There's pressure on SEC to win national title, deliver in March Madness

College basketball’s biggest story this year has been dominance from the SEC. After a successful nonconference schedule and now getting through the regular season, it’s time for the postseason. First up is Nashville for the SEC Tournament before Selection Sunday gives us the March Madness bracket. As many as 14 teams from the league could be included.

With all this success comes pressure in the NCAA Tournament, at least according to ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes. He believes the SEC does need to win a national championship after all the talk of how great the conference has been. The drought is entering Year 13 and needs to be snapped in Dykes’ opinion.

“There’s pressure on the SEC this year, I think, to deliver with a national title and backup how great they’ve been in the regular season,” Dykes said during Thursday’s Mississippi State–Missouri game. “This league has not won one since 2012. John Calipari and Kentucky was the last one.”

Last season did see an SEC team make the Final Four as Alabama got its first in program history. Nate Oats‘ squad lost to the eventual champions though, as UConn knocked them out Saturday night.

Before Alabama, there have been five Final Four appearances for the SEC since Kentucky’s 2012 title. Kentucky and Florida in 2014, Kentucky again in 2015, South Carolina in 2017, and finally, Auburn in 2019. Four of them wound up losing in the Final Four itself while 2014 Kentucky made the national championship game but saw the confetti fly for UConn.

Entering Wednesday, 13 SEC teams were projected to get in the field. Texas and Oklahoma were on the bubble but after wins, the two Red River schools are in the projected field. As of now, LSU and South Carolina are the only two guaranteed to not hear their name called on Sunday.

There could be two one-seeds from the SEC too. Auburn appears to be a lock for the No. 1 overall spot while Alabama and Florida fight for the final one — maybe on Saturday in an SEC Tournament semifinal matchup. Plenty of programs are going to be seeded quite highly in the official bracket.

Dykes says the time to perform is now. Multiple teams will enter the NCAA Tournament with the expectation of being the ones cutting down the nets in San Antonio. Others from the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, or a mid-major will have something to say about that.