The 2016-17 season is the 85th in SEC basketball history. But while there have been 85 regular season titles (some shared), there have only been 58 conference tournaments - it wasn't held in 1935, nor from 1953 through 1978).
The Southeastern Conference originated during the 1932-33 season, and consisted of the following schools:
Alabama
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Kentucky
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Sewanee
Tennessee
Tulane
Vanderbilt
All thirteen of these teams had just made an exodus from the Southern Conference, which was a 23-team behemoth in 1931-1932. Most of the other "SoCon" members at that time would go on to form the core of the ACC in 1953-54 (UNC, Duke, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia etc.).
Schools leave the SEC...and others join...
1940: Sewanee leaves, reducing membership to 12. It stayed that way for 24 seasons.
1964: Georgia Tech leaves, reducing memberships to 11.
...followed by Tulane in 1966, leaving 10 schools.
This was the list for 25 years:
Alabama
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
(these same 10 schools are original and current members)
The next change came in 1991-92, when Arkansas and South Carolina joined, bringing the SEC back to a total of 12.
And finally (for now), Missouri and Texas A&M in 2012, for the current 14-team configuration.
Scheduling inconsistency in the early days
The early days of the league were a bit strange, as far as regular season championships go. The scheduling and methodology was uneven, to put it mildly. Want examples?
1936: Kentucky won the league with 6 wins and 2 losses...a better percentage than Vandy (8-4) and Tennessee (9-4).
1938: Kentucky won at 6-0, a better percentage than Ole Miss (11-2).
Or what about 1943? Kentucky won at 8-1....Mississippi State played more than twice as many league games and finished 13-7...Florida was 0-6. Things were all over the place.
1944 was clearly affected by the second World War, as a total of six league games were played and it seems silly to even crown a champion.
A dose of uniformity...but many changes to come
Things became much more sane during the 1950-51 season, with a 14-game league schedule for all teams.
In 1952-53, it was a 13-game schedule, as Kentucky did not participate that season.
In 1953-54, it was back to 14 games for all schools...although it still wasn't necessary for teams to play ALL others in the league - as evidenced by both UK and LSU finishing 14-0.
It seems that in the following year (1954-55), it became standard practice to face all 11 of the other league members. From then through the departure of Georgia Tech in 1964, there were three teams that Kentucky faced twice in each league season: Tech, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. A fairly difficult slate, really.
In 1964-65 (after Georgia Tech left), there were 11 teams, playing a 16-game schedule. That year and the next, UK faced Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Vandy twice. LSU, MSU, Ole Miss and Tulane once each.
In 1966-67 (after Tulane departed), there were 10 teams, playing an 18-game, "round robin" schedule. Thus began the longest period of scheduling stability - all teams played every other team twice a year until 1991-92. This was arguably the period during which the "truest" regular season champions were crowned.
When Arkansas and South Carolina joined in 1991-92 (the former from the now-defunct Southwest Conference, the latter from the Metro and previously the ACC and SoCon), things changed again. The SEC split into two divisions:
East: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
West: Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi, MSU
Each team played its division-mates twice and the others once, for a total of 16 games. This format remained until 2011-2012, when divisions ceased to exist in SEC basketball.
In 2012-2013, the schedule switched back to 18 games when Missouri and Texas A&M arrived. As there are 13 opponents and 18 games, some are obviously faced only once each year. This even includes traditional opponents - there have been years when UK played Tennessee or Vanderbilt only once. Florida has been the only twice-annual opponent for Kentucky since the new arrangement began.
Regular season championships:
1) Kentucky - 48 (won 50 but vacated in 1988, on probation in 1991)
Outright: 36
Shared: 12
Also won tournament: 17 (plus one vacated)
Outright and won tournament: 13 (plus one vacated)
1933: 8-0 (also won tournament)
1935: 11-0 (shared with LSU)
1936: 6-2
1938: 6-0
1941: 8-1
1943: 8-1
1945: 4-1 (shared with Tennessee, also won tournament)
1946: 6-0 (shared with LSU, also won tournament)
1947: 11-0 (also won tournament)
1948: 9-0 (also won tournament)
1949: 13-0 (also won tournament)
1950: 11-2 (also won tournament)
1951: 14-0
1952: 14-0 (also won tournament)
1954: 14-0 (shared with LSU)
1955: 12-2
1957: 12-2
1958: 12-2
1962: 13-1 (shared with MSU)
1964: 11-3
1966: 15-1
1968: 15-3
1969: 16-2
1970: 17-1
1971: 16-2
1972: 14-4 (shared with Tennessee)
1973: 14-4
1975: 15-3 (shared with Alabama)
1977: 16-2 (shared with Tennessee)
1978: 16-2
1980: 15-3
1982: 13-5 (shared with Tennessee)
1983: 13-5
1984: 14-4 (also won tournament)
1986: 17-1 (also won tournament)
1988: 13-5 (also won tournament)*** both vacated
1995: 14-2 (also won tournament)
1996: 16-0
1998: 14-2 (also won tournament)
2000: 12-4 (shared with Florida, LSU, Tennessee)
2001: 12-4 (shared with Florida, also won tournament)
2003: 16-0 (also won tournament)
2005: 14-2
2010: 14-2 (also won tournament)
2012: 16-0
2015: 18-0 (also won tournament)
2016: 13-5 (shared with Texas A&M, also won tournament)
2017: 16-2 (also won tournament)
2) LSU - 11
Outright: 6
Shared: 5
Also won tournament: 0
1935: 12-0 (shared with Kentucky)
1946: 8-0 (shared with Kentucky)
1953: 13-0
1954: 14-0 (shared with Kentucky)
1979: 14-4
1981: 17-1
1985: 13-5
1991: 13-5 (shared with Mississippi State)
2000: 12-4 (shared with Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee)
2006: 14-2
2009: 13-3
3) Alabama - 8
Outright: 6
Shared: 2
Also won tournament: 1
Outright and won tournament: 1
1939: 13-4
1940: 14-4
1956: 14-0
1974: 15-3 (shared with Vanderbilt)
1975: 15-3 (shared with Kentucky)
1976: 15-3
1987: 16-2 (also won tournament)
2002: 12-4
3) Tennessee - 8
Outright: 3
Shared: 5
Also won tournament: 0
1942: 7-1
1945: 8-2 (shared with Kentucky)
1967: 15-3
1972: 14-4 (shared with Kentucky)
1977: 16-2 (shared with Kentucky)
1982: 13-5 (shared with Kentucky)
2000: 12-4 (shared with Florida, Kentucky, LSU)
2008: 14-2
5) Florida - 7
Outright: 5
Shared: 2
Also won tournament: 2
Outright, and won tournament: 2
1989: 13-5
2000: 12-4 (shared with Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee)
2001: 12-4 (shared with Kentucky)
2007: 13-3 (also won tournament)
2011: 13-3
2013: 14-4
2014: 18-0 (also won tournament)
6) Mississippi State - 6
Outright: 5
Shared: 1
Also won tournament: 0
1959: 13-1
1961: 11-3
1962: 13-1 (shared with Kentucky)
1963: 12-2
1991: 13-5
2004: 14-2
7) Vanderbilt - 3
Outright: 2
Shared: 1
Also won tournament: 0
1965: 15-1
1974: 15-3 (shared with Alabama)
1993: 14-2
8) Georgia Tech - 2
Outright: 1
Shared: 1
Also won tournament: 0
1937: 10-0
1944: 2-0 (shared with Tulane)
8) Auburn - 2
Outright: 2
Shared: 0
Also won tournament: 0
1960: 12-2
1999: 14-2
10) Arkansas - 2
Outright: 2
Shared: 0
Also won tournament: 0
1992: 13-3
1994: 14-2
11) Tulane - 1
Outright: 0
Shared: 1
Also won tournament: 0
1944: 4-0 (shared with Georgia Tech)
11) Georgia - 1
Outright: 1
Shared: 0
Also won tournament: 0
1990: 13-5
11) South Carolina - 1
Outright: 1
Shared: 0
Also won tournament: 0
1997: 15-1
11) Texas A&M - 1
Outright: 0
Shared: 1
Also won tournament: 0
2016: 13-5 (shared with Kentucky)
Teams with no regular season titles: Ole Miss (since 1932), Sewanee (1932-1940), Missouri (2013-present)
Tournament championships:
1) Kentucky - 30 (won 31 but vacated in 1988)
1933 - also won regular season title
1937
1939
1940
1942
1944
1945 - also shared regular season title
1946 - also shared regular season title
1947 - also won regular season title
1948 - also won regular season title
1949 - also won regular season title
1950 - also won regular season title
1952 - also won regular season title
1984 - also won regular season title
1986 - also won regular season title
1988 - also won regular season title*** both vacated
1992
1993
1994
1995 - also won regular season title
1997
1998 - also won regular season title
1999
2001
2003 - also won regular season title
2004
2010 - also won regular season title
2011
2015 - also won regular season title
2016 - also shared regular season title
2017 - also won regular season title
2) Alabama - 6
1934
1982
1987 - also won regular season title
1989
1990
1991
3) Tennessee - 4
1936
1941
1943
1979
3) Florida - 4
2005
2006
2007 - also won regular season title
2014 - also won regular season title
5) Mississippi State - 3
1996
2002
2009
6) Ole Miss - 2
1981 - only finished 8-10 in the league
2013
7) Georgia - 2
1983 - only finished 9-9 in the league, but also made the Final Four
2008 - only finished 4-12 in the league
7) Vanderbilt - 2
1951
2012
9) Georgia Tech - 1
1938
9) LSU - 1
1980
9) Auburn - 1
1985 - only finished 8-10 in the league
9) Arkansas - 1
2000 - only finished 7-9 in the league
Teams with no tournament titles: Sewanee (1932-1940), Tulane (1932-1966), South Carolina (1992-present), Missouri (2013-present), Texas A&M (2013-present)
Total championships
1) Kentucky - 78
2) Alabama - 14
3) Tennessee and LSU - 12
5) Florida - 11
6) MSU - 9
7) Vanderbilt - 5
8) Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech - 3
12) Ole Miss - 2
13) South Carolina, Texas A&M, Tulane - 1
16) Missouri, Sewanee - 0
Total "dual" titles (regular and tournament)
1) Kentucky - 18 (plus one vacated)
2) Florida - 2
3) Alabama - 1
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