Prestige Rankings: The Best SEC Men’s Basketball Programs

Mar 15, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats players watch from the bench during the second half of the SEC Conference championship game at Bridgestone Arena. Kentucky Wildcats defeated Arkansas Razorbacks 78-63. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports

1. Kentucky Wildcats

NCAA Tournament Appearances: 55

Sweet Sixteens: 19

Elite Eights: 14

Final Fours: 7

National Championship Appearances: 5

National Championships: 3

SEC Tournament Championships: 16

The top spot in the SEC comes as no surprised whatsoever, and it seems nearly impossible to consider any team unseating the Kentucky Wildcats from their throne above the rest of the conference.

The Kentucky Wildcats are one of the most storied programs in all of college basketball, and for good reason. Since 1985, the Wildcats have only missed 4 NCAA Tournaments, and 3 of those came consecutively from 1989-91. In that span, Kentucky has been the biggest player in the postseason in the SEC.

Kentucky has made it to at least the Sweet Sixteen in every tournament appearance since 1985 all but 7 times. They’ve made 5 national championship games, and the Wildcats won the National Championship in 1996, 1998, and 2012. They also made 7 Final Fours in that span.

The Wildcats have been a fixture in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s largely because they’ve dominated the SEC. Of the 36 SEC Tournaments to take place since it was reinstated in 1979, Kentucky has won 16 of them, including the 2015 tournament. No other team has even half as many SEC titles as the Wildcats.

Kentucky is the obvious choice for No. 1 in the SEC. No other team comes close, and the Wildcats are poised to make another championship run in 2015. In fact, the Wildcats are as good as they’ve ever been this season, taking an undefeated record into the NCAA Tournament. So their prestige may only grow by the end of this postseason.