Ten Most Famous Non-Athletes to attend SEC schools

By Chris Marler

Brad Pitt made headlines this week, not just because I made my girlfriend watch Ocean’s 11 and 13 while she was sick. He appeared on Dax Shepard’s podcast and talked about his pre-Hollywood days, including enrolling at Missouri in 1982 before acting was ever on his radar.

That led us down a fun rabbit hole looking at the other most famous SEC students and alumni from around the league. Here are the ten most famous we found.

Brad Pitt, Missouri 

Pitt enrolled in 1982 but never graduated, despite being rumored to be just four hours short of a diploma. Pitt majored in journalism with a focus in advertising, but left school two weeks prior to graduation and moved to Los Angeles.

He’s now 62, has six kids, has won two Oscars, and his films have totaled over $8.8 billion worldwide. 

Matthew McConaughey, Texas 

McConaughey is the class of 1993. He got a Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

He is currently a professor at the school, as well as the “Minister of Culture.” He won an Academy Award in 2014 for Dallas Buyers Club

Jimmy Buffett, Auburn 

To the shock of no one, Buffett did not graduate. However, he did enroll at Auburn in 1964 and pledged the Sigma Pi fraternity.

He left to pursue his music career which seemed like a pretty good choice. 

Paul Finebaum, Tennessee 

SEC’s Jerry Springer graduated from Tennessee in 1978 with a degree in Political Science. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Texas 

Tyson got his masters from Texas after attending Harvard for undergrad. He graduated in 1983, and is most likely the smartest person to ever be associated with the SEC.

That is, besides Greg McElroy if you ask Greg McElroy. 

Darius Rucker, South Carolina 

Rucker attended South Carolina in the mid 1980’s. It was at Columbia that he started Hootie and the Blowfish in 1986. All four members were students at USC eight years prior to their first album Cracked Rear View ever debuting. 

Bernie Madoff, Alabama 

Madoff attended Alabama for one year in 1957 and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He left after one year and attended Hofstra.

No word on whether or not Alabama going 2-7-1 during that football season led to him leaving, or if Alabama’s 1941 “National Championship” inspired him into a life of falsifying numerical records. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia 

Graduated with a degree in Business administration in 1996. She is now a US Congresswoman and conspiracy theorist. 

Al Gore, Vanderbilt

Before “inventing the internet” the former presidential candidate graduated from Vanderbilt in 1972. He also attended undergrad at Harvard where his roommate was famous actor Tommy Lee Jones. 

Tim Cook, Auburn 

The CEO of Apple, Cook graduated from Auburn in 1982. He received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.