One year after sending a record 14 teams to the 2025 NCAA Tournament and producing its first national champion since 2012, the SEC returned from the stratosphere in 2026. Though it couldn't match the heights of its historic 2024-25 dominance, it still landed in a good place. The SEC led college basketball with 10 NCAA Tournament bids in 2026 and represented a quarter of the Sweet 16 before it was boxed out of the Final Four.
Now, as the 2026-27 season approaches, the conference is — on many levels — running it back. Only one school made a coaching change, and LSU's new head man isn't exactly new. It's former coach Will Wade, whose first stint with the Tigers ended just four and a half years ago.
Of the 15 players who earned All-SEC honors last season, seven are back. In the transfer portal era, that's a significant amount of returning production. Nowhere is the theme stronger than at Florida.
The Gators return four starters from last year's squad, which earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Furthermore, Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu each played pivotal roles on the program's 2024 national title team. So did Denzel Aberdeen, who has returned to Gainesville following a one-year stop at Kentucky.
Our panelists unanimously picked Florida to win the league. Here is the full rundown of how we see things playing out in the SEC during the 2026-27 season. Florida flexed Haugh from the four to the three during his junior season, and the versatile forward adapted well to a perimeter-heavy role as he led the Gators in scoring at 17.1 points per game.
His position change allowed coach Todd Golden to start his five best players, and it made a great rebounding team even more dominant on the glass. Haugh could have been a first-round pick in the NBA Draft but is returning to potentially push the Gators to dynastic status. If he can improve his 32.6% 3-point shooting mark from last season, it would go a long way toward addressing one of Florida's only weaknesses (perimeter shooting) from last season.
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