The
Southeastern Conference (
SEC) is an American college
athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the
Southern part of the United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ten states, three additional public land grant universities, and one private research university. The conference is headquartered in
Birmingham, Alabama. The SEC participates in the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Division I in sports competitions; for
football, it is part of the
Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A. Regarded as one of the most accomplished sports conferences in terms of its winning reputation, the SEC is also highly successful financially. The conference consistently leads most others in revenue distribution to its members, including an SEC record $455.8 million for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which was a sizable increase over the $292.8 million for the 2013-14 fiscal year, largely due to the revenue from the introduction of the
SEC Network.