SEC Soccer

Is SEC Soccer the best? If not, which conference is the best college soccer conference?

The answer?

Unquestionably – the ACC. I am talking about the kind of soccer the Southeastern Conference (SEC) plays – namely Women’s Soccer. The SEC does not compete in Men’s Soccer. This is not unusual. 301 colleges participate in NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer; only 199 have Men’s teams. For a possible explanation of why this is, read Baseball and Title IX.

UK player dribbles soccer ball

UK player dribbles soccer ball. Thanks to ukathletics for the photo.

Here's our current ranking of the NCAA College Soccer Conferences:

1. ACC Until last year (2007), the University of North Carolina Lady Tarheels dominated college women’s soccer. And, now they do again, having won the 2008 NCAA Soccer Championship, beating Notre Dame. Last season they were knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the third round by Notre Dame. However, now, through 2008, in the 27 years that the NCAA has conducted a Women’s Soccer National Championship, UNC has won it 19 times—including 2006 and now 2008. Now, that's dominating a sport! The ACC also almost always has the most teams in the Top-25 and selected for the NCAA Tournament.

Historically, there has been a significant drop-off after the ACC, with the other 5 major soccer conferences all pretty close. But, that changed in 2007, as the Pac-10 took a big step up. Here’s the rest of the rankings:

Florida Gators Soccer

Thanks to utsports.com for photos 2 and 3. Thanks to ukathletics.com for photos 1, 4 and 5 above. All rights are reserved for these photos.

Love SEC soccer? Then check out Best All-Time SEC Soccer Player

2. Pac-10 The Pac-10 has moved way up. In fact, in 2007 USC won the NCAA Soccer Championship! And, in 2008, the Pac-10 had 2 teams in the NCAA Soccer "Final Four" -- UCLA and Stanford.

3. Big 12 The Big 12 had 4 teams in the last Top-25 poll. They had one team make it to the "Great 8" in the 2008 NCAA Tourny.

4. SEC The SEC had 6 teams picked for the NCAA Tournament last season (second only to the ACC). Florida ended the season ranked 9th nationally. Also, as an historical factor to distinguish the SEC from the conferences ranked lower, Florida won the NCAA tournament in 1998. In fact, the Lady Gators are the only Women’s soccer team to ever win the NCAA championship from any of the major conferences – other than North Carolina and USC. Finally, the SEC consistently has 3 or 4 teams in the top 20 for fan attendance at soccer games.

5. Big Ten No one ranked higher than 20th nationally.

6. Big East One team in the top 25.

Get your Fan Merchandise, Tickets, Trips and Rebate.

Click here to Vote For Your Favorite SEC Soccer Team!

Click here to Submit Information, Pictures or Video about SEC Soccer

Congrats to the Florida Gators for winning the 2008 SEC Soccer Regular Season Championship. LSU was Champion of the SEC West. Tennessee won the 2008 SEC Soccer Tournament.

Here's our end of 2008 SEC Soccer team rankings. Click on team name to go to its page:

1. Florida Gators -- Easy choice. The Lady Gators won the NCAA Soccer Tournament Championship in 1998 (only SEC team ever to do that). This past year (2008), the Lady Gators won the SEC Soccer regular season title, going undefeated in conference play. Also, Florida ended the regular season as the highest ranked SEC team nationally (9th). The Lady Soccer Gators have been in the SEC Championship game 11 of the 14 years it has been played and they won 8 SEC Soccer Tournament Championships. Florida is always a top 10 team nationally in attendance.

2. LSU Tigers -- Another turn-around team this past season. Ended up winning the SEC West.

3. Tennessee Volunteers -- Turned it around this year and ended up 2008 SEC Soccer Tournament Champions. Congrats!

4. Georgia Bulldogs -- Surprise team in the SEC this year. The Lady Bulldogs ended up with a 7-3-1 record in the SEC; second place in the SEC East; and, second place in the 2008 SEC Soccer Tournament. Wow, what a pleasant surprise!

5. Auburn Tigers -- Last won the SEC West regular season crown in 2006; which it had won at that point for 5 of the preceeding 6 years. Finished 2d in SEC West. The Lady Tigers are resurgent!

6. South Carolina Gamecocks -- The Lady Gamecocks were very improved this year. For a while they flirted with being ranked in the Top 25 nationally!

7. Ole Miss Rebels -- The Lady Rebs finished .500 in the SEC. 3rd in the West. Surprised on the upside a bit.

8. Alabama Crimson Tide

9. Arkansas Razorbacks

Kentucky womens soccer kick

Kentucky womens soccer kick. Thanks to ukathletics for the photo.

10. Vanderbilt Commodores -- Nice non-conference record. Had a tough time with SEC competiton.

11. Kentucky Wildcats -- Disappointing season.

12. Mississippi State Bulldogs -- Woeful in the SEC; winless.

If you are looking for Sports Training then Check out Hameed's Weight Training website. Also check out their Sports Weight Training Section.

kentucky soccer celebration. Thanks to ukathletics for the photo

What do you think?

We'd love to hear your comments and/or opinions. If you submit them here, other visitors can read them, rate them and comment on them. An e-mail address is not required.

Enter Your Title

Your comments go here. [ ? ]

Upload A Picture (optional) [ ? ]

Add Picture Caption (optional)

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

UK vs. Auburn Not rated yet
This was tough game against Auburn. UK was tied 0-0 after regulation. The game went into double overtime only to have the game end in a 0-0 tie.

UK vs. Alabama 9-28-08 Not rated yet
First game for Alabama under their new coach, Todd Bramble, against UK.

Return to Home Page About Us | Contact Us | Site Search |

footer for Alabama Crimson Tide Apparel page