Who was last SEC team to win national championship? Florida looks to break 13-year drought

With the dominance of the Southeastern Conference during the 2024-25 men’s basketball season, it would be hard to believe it would be part of a potential trivia question.

When No. 1 Florida takes on No. 1 Houston at 8:50 p.m. ET Monday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, in the deciding game of the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament, the Gators will seek to become the first SEC team to win a national championship since 2012.

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The conference has been well-equipped to break the long drought this season, sending a record-breaking 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament. Half of those teams broke the record to send seven teams to the Sweet 16, with four in the Elite Eight. With Florida and Auburn squaring off in the Final Four, the SEC was assured of one team in the championship game for the first time since 2014.

Now, Florida will have the rest of the conference behind it, rooting for the 13-year streak to finally come to an end. The Gators would clinch their third national championship and the first since repeating in 2006-07 under Billy Donovan if they were to pull it off.

Here’s what you need to know about the last SEC team to win a national championship:

Who won the last national championship from the SEC?

The 2012 Kentucky team stands as the last national champion crowned from the SEC. The Wildcats, coached by John Calipari, defeated Kansas 67-59 in the national championship game in New Orleans on April 2, 2012.

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Doron Lamb had 22 points in the win, as the Wildcats built up a 14-point first-half lead and never looked back. Future NBA star and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Anthony Davis, had just six points on 1 of 10 shooting, but contributed 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and three steals.

Kentucky finished the season with a 38-2 record, including a 16-0 mark in the SEC. The 38 wins are tied with 2014-2015 Kentucky and 2007-08 Memphis for the most wins in a single season. All three were Calapari-coached teams. The Wildcats won the SEC regular season title but fell to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament championship game.

In the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky earned the No. 1 overall seed. Here’s a look at the Wildcats’ 2012 NCAA Tournament run:

• First round: No. 1 Kentucky 81, No. 16 Western Kentucky 66

• Second round: No. 1 Kentucky 87, No. 8 Iowa State 71

• Sweet 16: No. 1 Kentucky 102, No. 4 Indiana 90

• Elite Eight: No. 1 Kentucky 82, No. 3 Baylor 70

• Final Four: No. 1 Kentucky 69, No. 4 Louisville 61

• Championship: No. 1 Kentucky 67, No. 2 Kansas 59

Last SEC men’s basketball team in championship game

Before this year’s Gators team, the 2014 Kentucky team was the last to make it the championship game. However, the Wildcats fell 60-54 to UConn in the title game in Arlington, Texas. No team from the conference has reached the championship game until Florida defeated Auburn to do so this season.

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Last season, Alabama became the first team to reach the Final Four from the SEC since Auburn in 2019. The Crimson Tide lost to eventual champion UConn in the national semifinal in the program’s first Final Four appearance.

SEC men’s basketball national championships

Here’s a look at the list of the 11 national champions from the SEC. Only three different programs have earned a national title from the conference, led by Kentucky.

• 1948: Kentucky def. Baylor, 58-42

• 1949: Kentucky def. Oklahoma A&M, 46-36

• 1951: Kentucky def. Kansas State, 58-48

• 1958: Kentucky def. Seattle, 84-72

• 1978: Kentucky def. Duke, 94-88

• 1994: Arkansas def. Duke, 76-72

• 1996: Kentucky def. Syracuse, 76-67

• 1998: Kentucky def. Utah, 78-69

• 2006: Florida def. UCLA, 73-57

• 2007: Florida def. Ohio State, 84-75

• 2012: Kentucky def. Kansas, 67-59

Most SEC basketball championships

Three SEC basketball programs have won at least one national championship. Kentucky is the leader with eight championships under five different coaches: Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith and John Calipari.

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Billy Donovan led the Gators to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Florida is the only school to win a national championship in football and basketball in the same academic year.

Nolan Richardson led Arkansas to a national championship in 1994, as the only other SEC program to win a national title.

• Kentucky: 8 (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012)

Longest national championship droughts by conference

Only the Big Ten has a longer drought for a men’s national basketball championship than the SEC. Michigan State won the title for the conference in 2000.

The former Pac-12 won its last national championship in 1997 when Arizona beat Kentucky 84-79 in overtime. However, with the conference no longer standing, the SEC and Big Ten have longer droughts.

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1. Big Ten: 25 years (Michigan State, 2000)

2. SEC: 13 years (Kentucky, 2012)

3. ACC: 6 years (Virginia, 2019)

4. Big 12: 3 years (Kansas, 2022)

5. Big East: 1 year (UConn, 2024)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When did SEC last win national championship?