SEC Basketball . . . Setting the standard for excellence   Ten NCAA men's teams and nine women's teams competed in postseason play in 2001. The SEC led all conferences in total number of teams in postseason play. The Big East and Big Ten conferences each had 17 teams in postseason action. The SEC's 12 NCAA bids (six men's/six women's) were matched only by the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences. It marked the sixth time in the last seven years the SEC has been at the top among conferences in postseason bids. The SEC led the nation in non-conference winning percentage in both men's (119-28, .810 winning percentage) and women's (137-42, .765 winning percentage) basketball last year. Worldspan, one of the SEC's corporate partners, is in its first year as the official presenting televison sponsor of women's athletic events on FOX Sports Net South. This marks the first-ever, conference-wide women's sports television sponsorship in the history of intercollegiate athletics. In the last 12 years (1990-2001), the SEC's 13 Final Four appearances are the most by any conference during that span. The Big East is second with eight while the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-10 are third with six teams each. The 2001 season was only the second time that the SEC did not have at least one team in the Final Four. Since 1993, the SEC has not had less than six teams receive NCAA Tournament bids. In 1999, the SEC received eight NCAA bids, which is an all-time record. The SEC leads all conferences in NCAA Tournament bids with 120. The next highest is the ACC with 84. The SEC leads the nation in NCAA Tournament wins with 216 and NCAA Tournament titles with six. The ACC is second in tournament wins with 111 while the Big East is second in tournament titles with three. The SEC also leads the nation in Final Four appearances with 23, more than double that of the next highest conference total (ACC & Sun Belt, 8). You might already know that Tennessee's Pat Summitt is the nation's leader in NCAA Tournament appearances (20), games (85), wins (71), winning percentage (71-14, .841), Four Four appearances (12) and national championships (six). But did you know that Georgia's Andy Landers (36), Auburn's Joe Ciampi (27) and Vanderbilt's Jim Foster (21) have also won more than 20 NCAA Tournament games and rank in the top 12 of that category.