The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has roots as far back as 1894, when representatives of seven schools formed the Southeastern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) on December 22 at a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Twelve more members were added during the first year of operations, and by 1920 the SIAA included 30 schools. A meeting at Gainesville, Florida, on December 12-13 of that year saw the larger schools form a new league under the name Southern Conference (SC). That conference, in turn, grew to 23 members by 1928. Between 1894 and 1928 the sprawling SIAA and SC included members from Virginia to Texas.
At a meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee, on December 8-9, 1932, the 13 most western and southern members of the SC broke off to form the SEC. Charter members were the universities of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. League play began with the 1933 football season. Sewanee, never having won an SEC game, withdrew from the conference on December 13, 1940, and the league eventually was pared to 10 members with the withdrawals of Georgia Tech on June 1, 1964, and Tulane on June 1, 1966.
The SEC underwent a major new expansion in 1990 with the admission of the universities of Arkansas and South Carolina, both of which began league play in 1992. The expanded league was divided into East and West divisions that year, with the winners meeting in a playoff for the SEC title. Undefeated Alabama beat Florida 28-21 in the first playoff title game