Ole Miss ' 91-78 win over Iowa State pushed the league past the finish line after a banner first weekend on the heels of a banner regular season. The Rebels joined Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida as the Sweet 16-bound SEC teams. Those teams range from two No. 1 seeds to a No. 10 seed.

The Wildcats shot a blistering 12-of-24 from three-point range in both of those earlier meetings, coming away with a 78-73 win on Jan. 28 and a 75-64 victory on Feb. 11 to hand the Volunteers two of their seven losses.

The SEC was historically good in 2024-25, and that only stood up during the NCAA tournament. After a record 14 SEC teams made the tournament - a record for most teams from a conference in a single NCAA tournament - the league performed well during the first weekend.