As part of its 2023–24 men’s basketball preseason coverage, Sports Illustrated is rolling out previews for each of the six high-major conferences. Our final preview is the SEC.
No league has embraced the transfer portal more than the SEC in recent years. Fifty-three of SI’s 70 projected starters in the league this season are transfers, with five teams set to start five transfers and just two starting two or fewer. But while the SEC is leading on talent acquisition, it has been missing March success, with just one Final Four appearance in the last five NCAA tournaments. There’s plenty of top-end talent to make a Final Four run a reality in this year’s iteration of the league, but we’ll see whether this season brings a breakthrough.