Editing Southeastern Conference (section)

==History==

===Founding===
The SEC was established December 8 and 9, 1932, in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the Farragut Hotel, when the thirteen members of the large [[Southern Conference]] located west and south of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] left to form their own conference. Ten of the thirteen founding members have remained in the conference since its inception: the [[University of Alabama]], [[Auburn University]], the [[University of Florida]], the [[University of Georgia]], the [[University of Kentucky]], [[Louisiana State University]] ("LSU"), the [[University of Mississippi]] ("Ole Miss"), [[Mississippi State University]], the [[University of Tennessee]], and [[Vanderbilt University]]. The SEC had no formal headquarters during its first eight years of existence, but in 1940, former [[Governor of Mississippi]] [[Martin S. Conner|Martin "Mike" Conner]] was named the conference's first president, with the league establishing its first corporate headquarters on the 13th floor of the [[Standard Life Building (Jackson, Mississippi)|Standard Life Building]] in downtown [[Jackson, Mississippi]]. The SEC office remained there until 1948, when it moved to [[Birmingham, Alabama]], where it remains.<ref>"Original SEC Office," ''HMdb.com: The Historical Marker Database'' [https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=178426]. Accessed 19 October 2024.</ref> The three founding members that have since left the conference are [[Sewanee Tigers football|Sewanee]], who left after the 1940 season to drop all athletic scholarships and become a [[NCAA Division III|D-III]] Independent; [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]], who left after the 1963 season and became a D-I Independent; and [[Tulane Green Wave football|Tulane]], who left after the 1965 season and became a D-I Independent.

In 1935, the SEC became the first conference to legalize [[athletic scholarships]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Madsen |first1=Rob |date=Spring 2023 |title=The Cost of Conservatism: The University of Minnesota's Lofted Ideals and Fallen Football Teams |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/34/article/918698 |journal=Journal of Sport History |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=85–100 |doi= 10.5406/21558450.50.1.06|access-date=}}</ref>

===Racial integration===
[[File:GreirSugarBwolpg322 1956OWL.jpg|thumb|[[Bobby Grier (Pittsburgh Panthers)|Bobby Grier]] playing against the [[1955 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets]] in 1955]]
White southerners committed to maintaining segregation created controversy preceding the [[1956 Sugar Bowl]], when the [[1955 Pittsburgh Panthers football team|Pitt Panthers]],  with African-American fullback [[Bobby Grier (American football player)|Bobby Grier]] on the roster, met the [[1955 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets]].<ref name=fcflu>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Cs9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4796%2C5131560 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |last=Sell |first=Jack |title=Panthers defeat flu; face Ga. Tech next |date=December 30, 1955 |page=1}}</ref> White southern segregationists created controversy by claiming that Grier should be barred from the game due to his race, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia's [[List of governors of Georgia|Governor]] [[Marvin Griffin]]'s opposition to racial integration.<ref name="Mulé">Mulé, Marty – {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070610185435/http://www.blackathlete.net/artman/publish/article_01392.shtml A Time For Change: Bobby Grier And The 1956 Sugar Bowl]}}. Black Athlete Sports Network, December 28, 2005</ref><ref>Zeise, Paul – [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05280/584401.stm Bobby Grier broke bowl's color line. The Panthers' Bobby Grier was the first African-American to play in Sugar Bowl] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 07, 2005</ref><ref>[[Pete Thamel]] – [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/sports/ncaafootball/01grier.html?ex=1293771600&en=8a6a5b2ca5956881&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss Grier Integrated a Game and Earned the World's Respect]. New York Times, January 1, 2006.</ref> After Griffin publicly sent a telegram to the state's Board of Regents requesting Georgia Tech not to engage in racially integrated events, Georgia Tech's president [[Blake R. Van Leer]] rejected the request and threatened to resign. The game went on as planned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2019/11/14/20914927/rearview-revisited-segregation-and-the-sugar-bowl-georgia-tech-pittsburgh-bobby-grier-1955-1956-game |publisher=Georgia Tech|title=Rearview Revisited: Segregation and the Sugar Bowl|author=Jake Grantl|date=November 14, 2019|access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref>

The 1959 Mississippi State men's basketball team, led by all-American [[Bailey Howell]], finished its season 24–1, winning the conference title. They did not participate in the NCAA tournament as school and state officials would not permit the team to play against Black players from northern schools. Four years later, in 1963, [[1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team|Loyola]], with four black starters, played Mississippi State in the "[[Game of Change]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8741183/game-change-mississippi-state-loyola-cannot-forgotten-college-basketball|publisher=ESPN|title=A game that should not be forgotten|author=Dana O'Neil|date=Dec 13, 2012|access-date=2021-10-09}}</ref>

It was not until 1966 that African Americans first participated in an SEC athletic contest, and the first black scholarship athletes did not play in the SEC until the 1967–68 school year.

The first African American to compete in the SEC was Stephen Martin, who [[Walk-on (sports)|walked on]] to the [[Tulane Green Wave baseball|Tulane baseball team]] in that school's final SEC season of 1966.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/2013/05/tulane_community_mourns_passin.html |title=Tulane community mourns death of SEC pioneer Stephen Martin |first=Tammy |last=Nunez |newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]] |date=May 15, 2013 |access-date=July 13, 2013}}</ref> In August of that same year, Kentucky enrolled [[Nate Northington]] and Greg Page on football scholarships,<ref name=Sculpture>{{cite news|url=http://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article103568827.html |title=UK reveals sculpture honoring first black football players |first=Mark |last=Story |newspaper=[[Lexington Herald-Leader]] |date=September 22, 2016 |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref> and Vanderbilt enrolled Godfrey Dillard and [[Perry Wallace]] on basketball scholarships.<ref name=Carey>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/sec/2004-02-19-sec-trailblazer_x.htm|title=An SEC trailblazer gets his due|last=Carey|first=Jack |date=February 19, 2004|work=USA Today|access-date=March 7, 2010}}</ref> At the time, the NCAA did not allow freshmen to compete on varsity teams, which meant that these pioneers could not play until 1967. Page died from complications of a spinal cord injury suffered during a football practice before ever playing a game,<ref name=Sculpture/> while Dillard suffered a career-altering injury before getting a chance to play for Vanderbilt's varsity and transferred to [[Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball|Eastern Michigan]].<ref name=Carey/> The remaining two both played in the 1967–68 school year. Northington made his overall debut against [[1967 Indiana Hoosiers football team|Indiana]] on September 23, 1967<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ukathletics.com/documents/2018/7/17/2018_KentuckyFBRecord_Book_WEB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913074031/https://ukathletics.com/documents/2018/7/17/2018_KentuckyFBRecord_Book_WEB.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 13, 2018 |title=Pioneers of Integration in the SEC |work=2018 UK Football Record Book |publisher=[[Kentucky Wildcats]] |access-date=September 12, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Maraniss |first=Andrew |date=2014 |title=Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South |location=[[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville, TN]] |publisher=[[Vanderbilt University Press]] |page=221 |isbn=9780826520241 |author-link=Andrew Maraniss}}</ref> and his SEC debut against Ole Miss the following week on September 30 (the day after Page's death<ref name=Sculpture/>), while Wallace made his varsity debut later that year.<ref>''Benching Jim Crow'' by Charles H. Martin</ref>

===1990 expansion===
{{Further|Southwest Conference}}

In 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of the [[Arkansas Razorbacks]] and the [[South Carolina Gamecocks]]. The two new members began SEC competition with the 1991–1992 basketball season.

At the same time, the SEC organized competition for some sports into two divisions. The Western Division comprised six of the seven member schools in the [[Central Time Zone]], while the Eastern Division comprised the five member schools in the [[Eastern Time Zone]] plus Vanderbilt, which is in the Central Time Zone but was placed in the Eastern Division to preserve its rivalry with Tennessee. Initially, the divisional format was used in football, baseball, and men's basketball. The divisional format was dropped for men's basketball following the 2011–2012 season.

Following expansion, the SEC was the first conference to receive permission from the NCAA to sponsor an annual [[SEC Championship Game|football championship game]] that did not count against NCAA limits on regular-season contests, featuring the winners of the conference's Eastern and Western divisions.<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=http://www.secsports.com/index.php?change_well_id=9993&s |title=About the Southeastern Conference |publisher=Secsports.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317103552/http://www.secsports.com/index.php?change_well_id=9993&s |archive-date=March 17, 2009 }}</ref> The [[1992 SEC Championship Game|1992]] and [[1993 SEC Championship Game|1993]] championship games were held at [[Legion Field]] in Birmingham, and all championship games from [[1994 SEC Championship Game|1994]] onward have been held in [[Atlanta]]—first at the [[Georgia Dome]] until its closure and demolition after the 2016 season, and since 2017 at [[Mercedes-Benz Stadium]].<ref name="about"/>

===2012 expansion===
{{See also|2010–12 Southeastern Conference realignment}}

On September 25, 2011, the SEC Presidents and Chancellors, acting unanimously, announced that [[Texas A&M University]] would join the SEC effective July 1, 2012, to begin competition in nineteen of the twenty sports sponsored by the SEC during the 2012–13 academic year.<ref>"[http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/228257/texas-am-to-join-southeastern-conference.aspx Texas A&M To Join Southeastern Conference]", SECSports.com (September 25, 2011). Retrieved September 25, 2011.</ref> On November 6, 2011, the SEC commissioner announced that the [[University of Missouri]] would also join the SEC on July 1, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=University Of Missouri To Join Southeastern Conference|url=http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/229185/university-of-missouri-to-join-southeastern-conference.aspx|access-date=November 6, 2011}}</ref> For football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division.<ref name=washpo-secnewmember20111228>{{cite news|title=SEC's new members Missouri, Texas A&M open league play Sept. 8, Alabama-LSU rematch Nov. 3|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/secs-new-members-missouri-texas-aandm-open-league-play-sept-8-alabama-lsu-rematch-nov-3/2011/12/28/gIQAEqDXMP_story.html|access-date=December 28, 2011|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 28, 2011|agency=Associated Press|quote=Missouri will play the 2012 season in the SEC East and hosts Georgia on Sept. 8. Texas A&M will be in the West and hosts Florida.}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name=bhamnews28dec2011>{{cite news|last=Segrest|first=Doug|title=SEC unveils 2012 schedules: Newcomers Missouri, Texas A&M get splashy home debuts|url=http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/12/sec_unveils_2012_schedules.html|access-date=December 28, 2011|newspaper=The Birmingham News|date=December 28, 2011}}</ref><ref name=espn-28dec2011>{{cite news|title=SEC rolls out division-based schedule|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/7396002/sec-rolls-2012-schedule-based-division-play|access-date=December 28, 2011|newspaper=ESPN|date=December 28, 2011|agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name=sportingnewsdecember282011>{{cite news|title=SEC releases schedule with Missouri and Texas A&M|url=http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-12-28/sec-releases-schedule-with-missouri-and-texas-am|access-date=December 28, 2011|newspaper=Sporting News|date=December 28, 2011|archive-date=January 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110064344/http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-12-28/sec-releases-schedule-with-missouri-and-texas-am|url-status=dead}}</ref> Texas A&M and Missouri both left the [[Big 12 Conference]].

===2024 expansion===
{{See also|2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment}}
On July 27, 2021, [[University of Oklahoma|Oklahoma]] and [[University of Texas at Austin|Texas]] formally notified the SEC they were seeking "an invitation for membership".  In a joint letter, Texas president Jay Hartzell and Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. wrote, "We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC."<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31897367/oklahoma-sooners-texas-longhorns-formally-notify-sec-membership-request|title=Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns formally notify SEC of membership request for 2025| date=July 27, 2021 |publisher=[[ESPN]]|access-date=July 27, 2021}}</ref> On July 29, 2021, the presidents of the current 14 schools of the SEC voted unanimously to extend an offer of admission to Oklahoma and Texas.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=July 29, 2021 |title=SEC Extends Membership Invitations to the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas |url=https://www.secsports.com/article/31913897/sec-extends-membership-invitations-university-oklahoma-university-texas |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=SEC Network}}</ref> The boards of regents for both institutions on July 30, 2021, accepted conference membership, and the schools were tentatively scheduled to join the league in 2025.

On February 9, 2023, the Big 12, Texas, and Oklahoma announced they had reached a buyout agreement that allowed the schools to join the SEC in 2024. The [[Texas Longhorns]] and [[Oklahoma Sooners]] athletic teams thus began league play during the 2024–25 academic year.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://big12sports.com/news/2023/2/9/conference-big-12-announces-agreement-for-withdrawal-of-oklahoma-and-texas.aspx |title=Big 12 Announces Agreement for Withdrawal of Oklahoma and Texas |publisher=Big 12 Conference |date=February 9, 2023 |access-date=February 9, 2023}}</ref>

===Membership timeline===
<timeline>

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ImageSize   = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20

Period      = from:1932 till:2030

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PlotArea    = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#

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          id:line value:red

          id:bg value:white
          id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
          id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
          id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
          id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote)
          id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
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   width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

   bar:1  color:Full from:1932 till:1940 text:[[Sewanee: The University of the South|Sewanee]] (1932–1940)
   bar:1  shift:(30) color:OtherC1 from:1940 till:1962 text:[[NCAA Division I independent schools|Independent]]
   bar:1  color:OtherC2 from:1962 till:2012 text:[[Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference|SCAC]]
   bar:1  color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text:[[Southern Athletic Association|SAA]]

   bar:2  color:Full from:1932 till:1964 text:[[Georgia Institute of Technology|Georgia Tech]] (1932–1964)
   bar:2  color:OtherC1 from:1964 till:1975 text:[[NCAA Division I FBS independent schools|Independent]]
   bar:2  color:OtherC2 from:1975 till:1978 text:[[Metro Conference|Metro]]
   bar:2  color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:end text:[[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]]

   bar:3  color:Full from:1932 till:1966 text:[[Tulane University|Tulane]] (1932–1966)
   bar:3  color:OtherC1 from:1966 till:1975 text:[[NCAA Division I FBS independent schools|Independent]]
   bar:3  color:OtherC2 from:1975 till:1995 text:[[Metro Conference|Metro]]
   bar:3  color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2014 text:[[Conference USA|C-USA]]
   bar:3  color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text:[[American Athletic Conference|AAC]]

   bar:4  color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[University of Alabama|Alabama]] (1932–present)

   bar:5  color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[Auburn University|Auburn]] (1932–present)

   bar:6  color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[University of Florida|Florida]] (1932–present)

   bar:7  color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[University of Georgia|Georgia]] (1932–present)

   bar:8  color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[University of Kentucky|Kentucky]] (1932–present)

   bar:9  color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[Louisiana State University|LSU]] (1932–present)

   bar:10 color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[University of Mississippi|Mississippi]] (1932–present)

   bar:11 color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[Mississippi State University|Mississippi State]] (1932–present)

   bar:12 color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[University of Tennessee|Tennessee]] (1932–present)

   bar:13 color:Full from:1932 till:end  text:[[Vanderbilt University|Vanderbilt]] (1932–present)

   bar:14 color:Full from:1992 till:end  text:[[University of Arkansas|Arkansas]] (1991–present)
   bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1932 till:1991 text:[[Southwest Conference|SWC]]
   bar:14 color:FullxF from:1991 till:1992

   bar:15 color:Full from:1992 till:end  text:[[University of South Carolina|South Carolina]] (1991–present)
   bar:15  color:OtherC1 from:1932 till:1953 text:[[Southern Conference|Southern]]
   bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1953 till:1972 text:[[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]]
   bar:15  color:OtherC1 from:1972 till:1983 text:[[NCAA Division I FBS independent schools|Independent]]
   bar:15  color:OtherC2 from:1983 till:1991 text:[[Metro Conference|Metro]]
   bar:15 color:FullxF from:1991 till:1992

   bar:16 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:[[Texas A&amp;M University|Texas A&M]] (2012–present)
   bar:16  color:OtherC1 from:1932 till:1996 text:[[Southwest Conference|SWC]]
   bar:16  color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:2012 text:[[Big 12 Conference|Big 12]]

   bar:17 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:[[University of Missouri|Missouri]] (2012–present)
   bar:17  color:OtherC1 from:1932 till:1996 text:[[Big Eight Conference|Big Eight]]
   bar:17  color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:2012 text:[[Big 12 Conference|Big 12]]

   bar:18 color:Full from:2024 till:end shift:(-63) text:[[University of Oklahoma|Oklahoma]] (2024–present)
   bar:18  color:OtherC1 from:1932 till:1996 text:[[Big Eight Conference|Big Eight]]
   bar:18  color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:2024 text:[[Big 12 Conference|Big 12]]

   bar:19 color:Full from:2024 till:end shift:(-44) text:[[University of Texas at Austin|Texas]] (2024–present)
   bar:19  color:OtherC1 from:1932 till:1996 text:[[Southwest Conference|SWC]]
   bar:19  color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:2024 text:[[Big 12 Conference|Big 12]]

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# > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. {{Font color||{{RGB|190|186|218}}|Full members}} {{Font color||{{RGB|141|211|199}}|Full members (non-football)}} {{Font color||{{RGB|251|128|114}}|Assoc. members (football only)}} {{Font color||{{RGB|128|177|211}}|Assoc. member (list sports)}} {{Font color||{{RGB|255|255|179}}|Other Conference}} {{Font color||{{RGB|253|180|98}}|Other Conference}} <# </timeline>

{{Font color||{{RGB|190|186|218}}|Full members&nbsp;}}
{{Font color||{{RGB|141|211|199}}|Full members (non-football)&nbsp;}} 
{{Font color||{{RGB|255|255|179}}|Other Conference&nbsp;}}
{{Font color||{{RGB|253|180|98}}|Other Conference&nbsp;}}