The Southeastern Conference has continued its incredible dominance on the basketball court this season through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

After a record 14 teams from the conference were selected to the tournament field, expectations were rightfully high, and they somehow may have even been exceeded.

Previously, the record for most teams from one conference in a Sweet Sixteen was six, but that record stands no more after seven SEC teams made it to the second weekend.

Both No. 1 seeds – the Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators – each survived a scare in the second round and were able to prevail to pull within two games of a Final Four head-to-head showdown. Auburn will have Michigan standing in the way of a trip to the Elite Eight while Florida faces Maryland

It wasn’t just the No. 1 seeds taking care of business however as the No. 2 seeds — Alabama and Tennessee — each advanced as well. The Crimson Tide will face BYU while at least one SEC team is guaranteed to advance after an epic showdown between the Volunteers and No. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats in the Midwest Region.

RELATED: Alabama and Auburn each make Sweet Sixteen for first time since 1986

In terms of surprises, there are really two of them. The No. 6 seeded Ole Miss Rebels were underdogs against both North Carolina and Iowa State but defeated both for the right to face off against Michigan State for the right to potentially face Auburn in Atlanta if both can win.

The biggest surprise however is the No. 10 seeded Arkansas Razorbacks who have gotten hot down the stretch of what was a tough first season under head coach John Calipari. The Hogs defeated the No. 2 seed St. John’s Red Storm to move into the next round against Texas Tech with the possibility of another all-SEC Elite Eight game if both they and Florida can win.

It should be another huge weekend of hoops across the South and fans have even more reason than usual to tune in when the new best conference in basketball tries to take several more huge steps.