SEC expert picks: 2026-27 preview, projected order of finish, preseason predictions, top players to watch

One year after sending a record 14 teams to the 2025 NCAA Tournament and producing its first national champion since 2012, the SEC returned from the stratosphere in 2026. Though it couldn’t match the heights of its historic 2024-25 dominance, it still landed in a good place. The SEC led college basketball with 10 NCAA Tournament bids in 2026 and represented a quarter of the Sweet 16 before it was boxed out of the Final Four. Now, as the 2026-27 season approaches, the conference is — on many levels — running it back. Only one school made a coaching change,…