The Southeastern Conference men’s basketball regular season wraps up with eight games on Saturday.
But only four teams — No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Florida, No. 15 LSU and No. 16 South Carolina — are locked into seeds for next week’s SEC Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Nashville.
Below, we examine the scenarios for how the 16-team bracket might shake out, including Tennessee’s quest to secure the No. 3 seed.
Look for SEC Tournament odds to be re-posted at the major sportsbooks Saturday after they key seeds are determined.
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Eight games on Saturday SEC schedule
Here’s the Saturday SEC schedule to conclude regular season play:
- Kentucky (20-10, 9-8 SEC) at Missouri (21-9, 10-7), noon ET (ESPN)
- Mississippi State (20-10) at Arkansas (18-12, 7-10), noon (SEC Network)
- Vanderbilt (20-10, 8-9) at Georgia (19-11, 7-10), noon (ESPNU)
- South Carolina (12-18, 2-15) at Tennessee (24-6, 11-6), 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Alabama (23-7, 12-5) at Auburn (27-3, 15-2), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Texas A&M (21-9, 10-7) at LSU (14-16, 3-14), 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7) at Florida (26-4, 13-4), 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12) at Texas (17-13, 6-11), 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
No. 3, 4 seeds will earn coveted double-byes into the SEC quarterfinals
Auburn has clinched its first outright regular season SEC title since 2022 and is in line to land the No. 1-overall seed in the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, Florida secured the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament — and put itself into position for a No. 1 Big Dance seed — with a 99-94 upset win at Alabama on Wednesday night.
The Crimson Tide currently stands third in the SEC and can fall no lower than the No. 4 seed.
That leaves four teams — Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss and Texas A&M — vying for the final top-four seed and the double-bye into the SEC tourney quarterfinals.
The fourth-place Volunteers are in a good position, hosting last-place South Carolina on Saturday.
If the Vols take care of business, they’ll wrap up a top-four seed. And if Alabama falls at Auburn as well on Saturday, they’ll be the No. 3 seed thanks to their 79-76 win over the Tide on March 1.
Even if Tennessee is upset Saturday, it would still be in solid No. 4 seed shape due to its head-head victories over Missouri and Texas A&M.
The Vols, though, did lose to Ole Miss (78-76) on Wednesday, and would come out on the short end — falling to the No. 6 seed — in the event of three-way tiebreakers with the Rebels and Aggies or Rebels and Tigers.
Explore the various SEC tourney seeding scenarios here.
Kentucky can climb — but can’t fall — from eighth seed
Seeds 5-8 will earn first-round SEC tourney byes.
Kentucky is currently holding down eighth place in the conference but is only a game ahead of Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats, though, win any head-to-head or three-way tiebreakers there, having split with the Commodores and beaten the Bulldogs. Thus, Kentucky is assured of at least the No. 8 spot and a first-round tourney bye.
On the flip side, Kentucky could climb as high as the fifth seed with a win at Missouri on Saturday and losses by Texas A&M and Ole Miss, prevailing in a four-way tiebreaker.
This season, the Wildcats beat Texas A&M (81-69) but lost to Ole Miss (98-84) so any head-to-head tiebreakers there would shake out accordingly.
