Football power SEC has 3 teams in the Elite Eight

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The chant “S-E-C” so well known around football across the South is coming to the Elite Eight.

The league best known for winning national titles in football has the most teams still alive and playing for a trip to the Final Four.

Kentucky and Florida have been joined by upstart South Carolina in the Gamecocks’ first ever trip to a regional final.

“No,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said sarcastically when asked about three SEC teams advancing. “There are not three SEC teams in the Elite Eight. We’re supposed to be a bad league. That’s got to be all these other leagues, right?”

Nope. The SEC, which struggled to get three teams into the NCAA Tournament a year ago, now has two more teams playing on than any other league, including the Atlantic Coast Conference, which sent nine teams to the tournament.

Seventh-seeded South Carolina throttled third-seeded Baylor 7050 in the first semifinal of the East Region in New York. Kentucky followed by knocking off No. 3 seed UCLA 86-75 in the South Region to set up a final with North Carolina today. The Tar Heels already were the only ACC team to reach the second weekend.

And back in New York, Florida needed overtime and a buzzer-beater by Chris Chiozza for a thrilling 84-83 win over Wisconsin to continue the SEC’s postseason success.

De’Aaron Fox noted Florida blew the Kentucky Wildcats out in Gainesville and South Carolina was ranked when they played.

“I mean right now they’re just showing them how strong our conference is,” Fox said. “Three teams in the Elite Eight. Man, that’s tough to do. That’s almost 50 percent of the field.”