Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located in the southeastern part of the United States . It is headquartered in Birmingham , Alabama . The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I in athletic competitions ; for football , it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) , formerly known as Division I - A . The conference is one of the most successful financially , consistently leading most conferences in revenue distribution to its members , including an SEC record $ 220 . 0 million for the 2010 – 2011 fiscal year . The SEC was also the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a championship game ( and award a subsequent title ) for college football , and was one of the founding members of the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) . The current SEC commissioner is Michael Slive . History . Founding and former members . The SEC was established on December 8 and 9 , 1932 , when the thirteen members of the Southern Conference located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains left to form their own conference . Ten of the thirteen founding members have remained in the conference since its inception : the University of Alabama , Auburn University , the University of Florida , the University of Georgia , the University of Kentucky , Louisiana State University ( " LSU " ) , the University of Mississippi ( " Ole Miss " ) , Mississippi State University , the University of Tennessee , and Vanderbilt University . The other charter members were : 1991 expansion . In 1991 , the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of : The two new teams joined for the 1991 – 1992 basketball season . At the same time , the SEC split into two divisions — a Western Division comprising most of the schools in the Central Time Zone , and an Eastern Division comprising the schools in the Eastern Time Zone plus Vanderbilt ( which is located in the Central Time Zone , but is in the Eastern Division to preserve its rivalry with Tennessee , while Alabama and Auburn are in the same division to preserve theirs despite Auburn being further east than Vanderbilt ) . This divisional format remains in place today for football and baseball ; the divisions have been eliminated for basketball . Also in 1992 , the SEC was the first conference to receive permission from the NCAA to sponsor an annual football championship game , featuring the winners of the conference ' s Eastern and Western divisions . The 1992 and 1993 SEC Championships were held at Birmingham ' s Legion Field , and have since been held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta . 2012 expansion . On September 25 , 2011 , the SEC Presidents and Chancellors , acting unanimously , announced that Texas A & M University will join the SEC effective July 1 , 2012 , with Texas A & M to begin competition in nineteen of the twenty sports sponsored by the SEC during the 2012 – 13 academic year . On November 6 , 2011 the SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri will also be joining the SEC on July 1 , 2012 . For football , Texas A & M will compete in the Western Division , and Missouri in the Eastern Division . Television and radio contracts . The SEC televises football games across various networks during the fall . SEC coverage is primarily provided by CBS and the ESPN family of networks , which includes ESPN , ESPN2 , ESPNU and ABC . Fox Sports Net also has rights to air seven live football games over the course of the season . ESPN reported paying $ 2 . 25 billion for broadcast rights of SEC football games beginning in the 2009 season and running through the fiscal year 2025 . Games scheduled for airing are generally picked two weeks before they occur , with a few matches that are selected by CBS and ESPN prior to the season . CBS has the first pick for a game and selects the highest - profile game to broadcast to a national , over - the - air audience . The CBS game is usually broadcast at 3 : 30 eastern time . Some weekends , CBS will air a doubleheader of SEC games . CBS also has the rights for the SEC Championship Game . ESPN will air several SEC games each week among its various channels , with Saturday time slots generally at 12 : 00 ET , 7 : 00 ET , and 7 : 45 ET , and some SEC games will be shown on Thursday nights . In previous years , Raycom Sports syndicated regional coverage for an SEC game of the week at 12 : 30 ET , but the new contract replaced it with a new ESPN - produced syndication package , the SEC Network whose football games kickoff at 12 : 21 ET . The currently scheduled Fox Sports Net games are set for 7 : 00 ET . For games not selected by any broadcast provider , certain schools may offer regional pay - per - view . As of 2008 , all SEC schools are affiliated with XM Radio , offering their radio broadcasts to an audience on XM . According to SiriusXM , the SEC will not be included as part of the " Best of XM " package deal for Sirius customers . 2008 television contract . During the 2007 – 2008 fiscal year review meeting , there was discussion among SEC leadership about the possibility of starting a TV network dedicated to its conference , much in the same way the Mountain West Conference and Big Ten Conference have done with the mtn . and Big Ten Network s , respectively . A decision was made to postpone the decision until at least the following year . In August 2008 , the SEC announced an unprecedented 15 - year television contract with CBS worth an estimated $ 55 million a year . This continues the relationship the SEC already has with CBS , which puts the SEC in the unique position as the only conference to have its own exclusive national television network of the four major over - the - air broadcast networks ( CBS , NBC , ABC , Fox ) to display the SEC ' s events . In the same month , the league also announced another landmark television contract with ESPN worth $ 2 . 25 billion or $ 150 million a year for the life of the contract , which is for fifteen years . It is the longest and wealthiest contract among all television deals among the major conferences . With these contracts , the SEC has , outside the Big Ten , the richest television deals in the country and will make the SEC the most nationally televised and visible conference in the country with the coverage that is provided by these contracts . Commissioners . The office of Commissioner was created in 1940 . Current members . The SEC currently has twelve member institutions in nine Southeastern states . The geographic domain of the conference stretches from Arkansas to South Carolina ( west to east ) and from Kentucky to Florida ( north to south ) . New members to be admitted in 2012 will extend this reach : northward to Missouri and westward to Texas . The conference is divided into two geographic divisions : the Eastern Division and the Western Division . These groupings are most notably used in football and baseball . Starting with the 2011 – 12 season , the SEC scrapped its divisional alignment in men ' s basketball , following a vote by SEC head coaches on June 1 , 2011 at the conference ' s annual meeting . This change makes the SEC more consistent with other conferences , since none of the other five " major conferences " use divisions in basketball even if they are used in football , baseball , etc . The conference also does not use divisions in women ' s basketball . The twelve current members of the Southeastern Conference are : Sports . The Southeastern Conference sponsors championships in nine men ' s and ten women ' s sports . Under SEC conference rules reflecting the large number of ( male ) scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns ( see also Title IX ) , each member institution is required to provide two more women ' s varsity sports than men ' s . The equivalent rule was recently adopted by the NCAA for all of Division I . While South Carolina and Kentucky field men ' s soccer teams , the conference does not sponsor the sport ; both schools in 2005 joined Conference USA for the sport . Conference USA also hosts the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee as single sports members for women ' s rowing , which the SEC does not sponsor . Florida and Vanderbilt both have women ' s lacrosse teams , and those teams compete in the single - sport American Lacrosse Conference . When Missouri joins the SEC , it will be the only school to sponsor wrestling . No SEC school has sponsored the sport since LSU discontinued its program in 1985 in order to come into compliance with Title IX . Current SEC champions . Fall 2011 Winter 2012 Spring 2011 Source : " 2011 – 12 Southeastern Conference Media Guide " Football . " For the current season , see 2011 Southeastern Conference football season " Before expansion , each SEC school played six conference games . Five of these games were against permanent opponents , developing some traditional rivalries between schools , and the sixth game rotated around the other four members of the conference . From 1992 through 2001 , each team had two permanent inter - divisional opponents , allowing many traditional rivalries from the pre - expansion era ( such as Florida vs . Auburn , Kentucky vs . LSU and Vanderbilt vs . Alabama ) to continue . However , complaints from some league athletic directors about imbalance in the schedule ( for instance , Auburn ' s two permanent opponents from the East were Florida and Georgia — two of the SEC ' s stronger football programs at the time — while Mississippi State played Kentucky and South Carolina every year ) led to the SEC reducing the permanent opponents to only one per team . Under the current format , each school plays a total of eight conference games , consisting of the other five teams in its division , two schools from the other division on a rotating basis , and one school from the other division that it plays each year . All permanent inter - divisional games , with the exception of Arkansas vs . South Carolina , were played annually before SEC expansion in 1992 . The following table shows the permanent inter - divisional opponent for each school listed by total number of games played ( records through the completion of the 2011 season with Western Division wins listed first ) : The following table shows the future permanent inter - divisional opponent for each school listed by total number of games played ( records through the completion of the 2011 season with Western Division wins listed first ) : Other league athletic directors have advocated discarding the current format and adopting the one used by the Big 12 Conference through 2010 , where teams play three teams from the opposite division on a home - and - home basis for two seasons , and then switch and play the other three teams from the opposite side for a two - year home - and - home . However , the potential loss of such heated ( and profitable , as the games are often shown on national TV ) long - standing rivalries as Auburn - Georgia , Alabama - Tennessee , and LSU - Florida have scuttled such plans on the drawing board . The loss of the annual rivalry between Nebraska and Oklahoma had led some Big 12 athletic directors to make a push to adopt the SEC format for the Big 12 prior to the loss of Nebraska and Colorado following the 2010 season . The Atlantic Coast Conference followed the SEC ' s lead and went one step further , adopting the permanent rival format for both football and basketball ( in the latter sport each school had two designated rivals until expansion to 14 schools rendered that arrangement impractical ) . The Big Ten Conference , which added Nebraska in 2011 , is also following the SEC ' s lead in its scheduling format . Championship Game . The SEC Championship Game pits the SEC Western Division representative against the Eastern Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed . As of 2010 , nine of the twelve SEC members have played in the Championship . Ole Miss is the only team from the SEC West to have not played in the SEC Championship Game , and Vanderbilt and Kentucky have failed to play in the game from the SEC East . The first two SEC Championship football games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham , Alabama . Since 1994 , the game has been played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta , Georgia . The team designated as the " home " team alternates between division champions ; the designation goes to the Eastern champion in even - numbered years and the Western champion in odd - numbered years . As of 2010 , the Eastern division of the SEC leads the Western division in overall wins in the championship game 11 to 8 . Bowl games . The post - season bowl game tie - ins for the SEC for the 2010 season are : Bowl selection procedures . If the SEC champion is selected to participate in the BCS National Championship Game , the Sugar Bowl is not required to pick the SEC runner - up but may select any eligible BCS team . However , since the BCS title game was moved to a standalone basis in 2007 , the Sugar Bowl has selected an SEC team , and since 2008 has chosen the SEC runner - up ( the 2007 Sugar Bowl featured LSU , who was not the SEC runner - up but was an eligible BCS team ) . However , since 2006 , the Sugar Bowl has selected either a division runner - up ( 2006 LSU , 2007 Georgia , and 2010 Arkansas ) or conference runner - up ( 2008 Alabama , 2009 Florida ) , which has been the second highest ranked SEC team in the BCS standings . Under SEC guidelines , unless the Sugar Bowl selects the SEC runner - up , the Capital One Bowl must then pick the SEC runner - up if that team has at least two more total wins than the next team in the selection order . The SEC runner - up has not played in the Capital One Bowl since Arkansas following the 2006 season . After those selections , the Outback Bowl has the first choice of the remaining teams in the SEC East , and the Cotton Bowl Classic has the first choice of those left in the SEC West . The Chick - fil - A Bowl and Gator Bowl pick afterwards . The Liberty Bowl and Music City Bowl work together , along with the SEC office , to determine the seventh and eighth picks . The BBVA Compass Bowl picks last . In the case that the SEC does not have nine bowl - eligible teams , a team from the Sun Belt will be selected instead . The SEC is presently second in BCS Bowl appearances , with twenty - one appearances , and first in all - time wins and winning percentage , with fifteen wins and a . 714 winning percentage . The BCS Bowls include the Rose , Sugar , Orange , Fiesta , and the BCS National Championship Game . Since the advent of the BCS National Championship Game format , the SEC is 8 – 1 in those games . The one SEC loss , was however at the hands of another SEC team when the SEC sent an unprecedented two teams to the 2012 National Championship game . The SEC was 2 – 0 in the games where the BCS National Championship Game was played as one of the traditional New Year ' s Day bowls , and since 2007 ( when the game was moved to a separate contest one week later ) an SEC team has participated in all five games and has won all five . Interestingly , the SEC team was ranked No . 1 only three times going into the game ( the first contest featuring Tennessee in 1998 , Alabama in 2009 and the most recent featuring Auburn in 2010 ) ; the other four times the SEC team ( LSU twice and Florida twice ) was ranked No . 2 . Rivalries . The SEC members have long histories . Some of the football rivalries involving SEC teams include : Player awards . Each year , the conference selects various individual awards . In 1994 , the conference began honoring former players from each school annually with the SEC Football Legends program . 50th anniversary All - Time SEC Team . In 1982 , the SEC Skywriters , a group of media covering the Southeastern Conference , selected members of their All - Time SEC Team for the first 50 years ( 1933 – 82 ) of the SEC . Coach : Paul " Bear " Bryant Offense QB Archie Manning , Ole Miss " 1968 - 70 " HB Charley Trippi , Georgia " 1942 , 45 - 46 " HB Billy Cannon , LSU " 1957 - 59 " HB Herschel Walker , Georgia " 1980 - 82 " WR Don Hutson , Alabama " 1932 - 34 " WR Terry Beasley , Auburn " 1969 - 71 " TE Ozzie Newsome , Alabama " 1974 - 77 " OL John Hannah , Alabama " 1970 - 72 " OL Bruiser Kinard , Ole Miss " 1935 - 37 " OC Dwight Stephenson , Alabama " 1977 - 79 " OL Bob Suffridge , Tennessee " 1938 - 40 " OL Billy Neighbors , Alabama " 1959 - 61 " PK Fuad Reveiz , Tennessee " 1981 - 84 " DL Doug Atkins , Tennessee " 1950 - 52 " DL Bill Stanfill , Georgia " 1966 - 68 " DL Jack Youngblood , Florida " 1968 - 70 " DL Lou Michaels , Kentucky " 1955 - 57 " DL Gaynell Tinsley , LSU " 1934 - 36 " LB Lee Roy Jordan , Alabama " 1960 - 62 " LB Jack Reynolds , Tennessee " 1967 - 69 " LB D . D . Lewis , Miss . State " 1965 - 67 " DB Tucker Frederickson , Auburn " 1962 - 64 " DB Jake Scott , Georgia " 1967 - 68 " DB Tommy Casanova , LSU " 1969 - 71 " DB Don McNeal , Alabama " 1977 - 79 " DB Jimmy Patton , Ole Miss " 1953 - 55 " P Craig Colquitt , Tennessee " 1975 - 77 " Schools ranked by endowment . As of March 19 , 2012 National team championships . Since the SEC ' s founding in December 1932 , the varsity athletic teams of its current twelve members and two future members have won over 200 national team sports championships . The following is the list of the national team championships claimed by current and future SEC member schools , including those tournament championships currently or formerly sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) . The NCAA has never sponsored a tournament championship for major college football , the championship game for which is currently sponsored and operated by the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) . Prior to 1992 , championships for major college football were determined by a " consensus " of major polling services , including the Associated Press and United Press International college football polls . Recognized women ' s championships from 1972 to 1982 were administered by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women ( AIAW ) , not the NCAA . There was a one - year overlap period during the 1981 – 82 school year , when both the AIAW and the NCAA operated women ' s championship tournaments ; since 1982 , only the NCAA has sponsored women ' s championship tournaments . National equestrian tournament championships are currently sponsored by Varsity Equestrian , not the NCAA . Those national championships dating from before 1933 predate the founding of the SEC in December 1932 ; championships won by Arkansas and South Carolina before the 1992 – 93 school year predate their membership in the SEC ; championships won by Misssouri and Texas A & M before the 2012 – 13 school year predate their membership in the SEC . Football ( 37 ) : < br > 1925 - Alabama * < br > 1926 - Alabama * < br > 1930 - Alabama * < br > 1934 - Alabama < br > 1938 - Tennessee < br > 1939 - Texas A & M * < br > 1940 - Tennessee < br > 1941 - Alabama < br > 1942 - Georgia < br > 1950 - Tennessee / Kentucky < br > 1951 - Tennessee < br > 1957 - Auburn < br > 1958 - LSU < br > 1959 - Ole Miss < br > 1960 - Ole Miss < br > 1961 - Alabama < br > 1962 - Ole Miss < br > 1964 - Alabama / Arkansas * < br > 1965 - Alabama < br > 1967 - Tennessee < br > 1973 - Alabama < br > 1978 - Alabama < br > 1979 - Alabama < br > 1980 - Georgia < br > 1992 - Alabama < br > 1996 - Florida < br > 1998 - Tennessee < br > 2003 - LSU < br > 2006 - Florida < br > 2007 - LSU < br > 2008 - Florida < br > 2009 - Alabama < br > 2010 - Auburn < br > 2011 - Alabama Baseball ( 10 ) : < br > 1954 - Missouri * < br > 1990 - Georgia < br > 1991 - LSU < br > 1993 - LSU < br > 1996 - LSU < br > 1997 - LSU < br > 2000 - LSU < br > 2009 - LSU < br > 2010 - South Carolina < br > 2011 - South Carolina Men ' s Basketball ( 12 ) : < br > 1935 - LSU < br > 1948 - Kentucky < br > 1949 - Kentucky < br > 1951 - Kentucky < br > 1958 - Kentucky < br > 1978 - Kentucky < br > 1994 - Arkansas < br > 1996 - Kentucky < br > 1998 - Kentucky < br > 2006 - Florida < br > 2007 - Florida < br > 2012 - Kentucky Women ' s Basketball ( 9 ) : < br > 1987 - Tennessee < br > 1989 - Tennessee < br > 1991 - Tennessee < br > 1996 - Tennessee < br > 1997 - Tennessee < br > 1998 - Tennessee < br > 2007 - Tennessee < br > 2008 - Tennessee < br > 2011 - Texas A & M * Women ' s Bowling ( 1 ) : < br > 2007 - Vanderbilt Boxing ( 1 ) : < br > 1949 - LSU Men ' s Cross Country ( 12 ) : < br > 1972 - Tennessee < br > 1984 - Arkansas * < br > 1986 - Arkansas * < br > 1987 - Arkansas * < br > 1990 - Arkansas * < br > 1991 - Arkansas * < br > 1992 - Arkansas < br > 1993 - Arkansas < br > 1995 - Arkansas < br > 1998 - Arkansas < br > 1999 - Arkansas < br > 2000 - Arkansas Women ' s Cross Country ( 1 ) : < br > 1988 - Kentucky Women ' s Equestrian ( 10 ) : < br > 2002 - Texas A & M * < br > 2003 - Georgia < br > 2004 - Georgia < br > 2005 - South Carolina < br > 2006 - Auburn < br > 2007 - South Carolina < br > 2008 - Georgia < br > 2009 - Georgia < br > 2010 - Georgia < br > 2011 - Auburn Men ' s Golf ( 11 ) : < br > 1940 - LSU < br > 1942 - LSU < br > 1947 - LSU < br > 1955 - LSU < br > 1968 - Florida < br > 1973 - Florida < br > 1993 - Florida < br > 1999 - Georgia < br > 2001 - Florida < br > 2005 - Georgia < br > 2009 - Texas A & M * Women ' s Golf ( 3 ) : < br > 1985 - Florida < br > 1986 - Florida < br > 2001 - Georgia Women ' s Gymnastics ( 16 ) : < br > 1982 - Florida ( AIAW ) < br > 1987 - Georgia < br > 1988 - Alabama < br > 1989 - Georgia < br > 1991 - Alabama < br > 1993 - Georgia < br > 1996 - Alabama < br > 1998 - Georgia < br > 1999 - Georgia < br > 2002 - Alabama < br > 2005 - Georgia < br > 2006 - Georgia < br > 2007 - Georgia < br > 2008 - Georgia < br > 2009 - Georgia < br > 2011 - Alabama Rifle ( 1 ) : < br > 2011 - Kentucky Women ' s Soccer ( 1 ) : < br > 1998 - Florida Softball ( 3 ) : < br > 1982 - Texas A & M ( AIAW ) * < br > 1983 - Texas A & M * < br > 1987 - Texas A & M * Men ' s Swimming ( 11 ) : < br > 1978 - Tennessee < br > 1983 - Florida < br > 1984 - Florida < br > 1997 - Auburn < br > 1999 - Auburn < br > 2003 - Auburn < br > 2004 - Auburn < br > 2005 - Auburn < br > 2006 - Auburn < br > 2007 - Auburn < br > 2009 - Auburn Women ' s Swimming ( 12 ) : < br > 1979 - Florida ( AIAW ) < br > 1982 - Florida < br > 1999 - Georgia < br > 2000 - Georgia < br > 2001 - Georgia < br > 2002 - Auburn < br > 2003 - Auburn < br > 2004 - Auburn < br > 2005 - Georgia < br > 2006 - Auburn < br > 2007 - Auburn < br > 2010 - Florida Men ' s Tennis ( 6 ) : < br > 1985 - Georgia < br > 1987 - Georgia < br > 1999 - Georgia < br > 2001 - Georgia < br > 2007 - Georgia < br > 2008 - Georgia Women ' s Tennis ( 7 ) : < br > 1992 - Florida < br > 1994 - Georgia < br > 1996 - Florida < br > 1998 - Florida < br > 2000 - Georgia < br > 2003 - Florida < br > 2011 - Florida 1965 - Missouri * < br > 1984 - Arkansas * < br > 1985 - Arkansas * < br > 1986 - Arkansas * < br > 1987 - Arkansas * < br > 1988 - Arkansas * < br > 1989 - Arkansas * < br > 1990 - Arkansas * < br > 1991 - Arkansas * < br > 1992 - Arkansas * < br > 1993 - Arkansas < br > 1994 - Arkansas < br > 1995 - Arkansas < br > 1997 - Arkansas < br > 1998 - Arkansas < br > 1999 - Arkansas < br > 2000 - Arkansas < br > 2001 - LSU < br > 2002 - Tennessee < br > 2003 - Arkansas < br > 2004 - LSU < br > 2005 - Arkansas < br > 2006 - Arkansas < br > 2010 - Florida < br > 2011 - Florida < br > 2012 - Florida Women ' s Indoor Track ( 14 ) : < br > 1987 - LSU < br > 1989 - LSU < br > 1991 - LSU < br > 1992 - Florida < br > 1993 - LSU < br > 1994 - LSU < br > 1995 - LSU < br > 1996 - LSU < br > 1997 - LSU < br > 2002 - LSU < br > 2003 - LSU < br > 2004 - LSU < br > 2005 - Tennessee < br > 2009 - Tennessee 1933 - LSU < br > 1974 - Tennessee < br > 1985 - Arkansas * < br > 1989 - LSU < br > 1990 - LSU < br > 1991 - Tennessee < br > 1992 - Arkansas * < br > 1993 - Arkansas < br > 1994 - Arkansas < br > 1995 - Arkansas < br > 1996 - Arkansas < br > 1997 - Arkansas < br > 1998 - Arkansas < br > 1999 - Arkansas < br > 2001 - Tennessee < br > 2002 - LSU < br > 2003 - Arkansas < br > 2009 - Texas A & M * < br > 2010 - Texas A & M * < br > 2011 - Texas A & M * 1981 - Tennessee ( AIAW ) < br > 1987 - LSU < br > 1988 - LSU < br > 1989 - LSU < br > 1990 - LSU < br > 1991 - LSU < br > 1992 - LSU < br > 1993 - LSU < br > 1994 - LSU < br > 1995 - LSU < br > 1996 - LSU < br > 1997 - LSU < br > 2000 - LSU < br > 2002 - South Carolina < br > 2003 - LSU < br > 2006 - Auburn < br > 2008 - LSU < br > 2009 - Texas A & M * < br > 2010 - Texas A & M * < br > 2011 - Texas A & M * National team titles claimed by SEC institutions . The current twelve and two future members of the Southeastern Conference claim over 200 national team championships in sports currently or formerly sponsored by conference members . The following totals include national team championships sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) from 1906 to the present , the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women ( AIAW ) from 1972 to 1982 , and , in football , the Bowl Alliance , Bowl Coalition and Bowl Championship Series since 1992 , as well as consensus national championships determined by the major football polls prior to 1992 . School - Number NCAA and AIAW national tournament team titles won by SEC institutions . The following totals include national team tournament championships sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) from 1906 to the present and the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women ( AIAW ) from 1972 to 1982 . The NCAA did not sponsor tournament championships in women ' s sports before the 1981 – 1982 academic year , and the NCAA has never sponsored a national championship playoff or tournament in major college football . To date , the twelve current members of the SEC have won 192 NCAA and four AIAW championships , including : School - Number Conference champions . The " Southeastern Conference " sponsors eight men ' s sports and ten women ' s sports , and awards a conference championship in every one of them .