SEC men’s tournament field set with Missouri Tigers facing Georgia in second round
The SEC men’s basketball tournament tips off on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, with a single game.
Texas A&M, the No. 12 seed, will take on 13th seeded Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. Usually, this is a doubleheader night among the bottom four seeds. But Auburn imposed a one-year postseason ban on its program for its involvement in the recruiting corruption scandal that was investigated by the FBI.
That makes this event a 13-team tournament.
Missouri is the No. 7 seed and will take on tenth-seeded Georgia at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Bulldogs defeated Mizzou 80-70 in Athens on Feb. 16.
Alabama is the top seed. The Crimson Tide’s 16-2 league record matches the best in school history. Arkansas, riding an eight-game winning streak, is the No. 2 seed.
LSU is seeded third and Tennessee clinched the fourth seed with its victory over Florida on Sunday. The top four seeds don’t play until Friday’s quarterfinals.
A consensus of projected brackets for the NCAA Tournament has Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee, Missouri and Florida in the field with Ole Miss as a bubble team. The tournament champion receives the SEC’s automatic bid to tournament.
SEC Tournament schedule
at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn. (Central times)
Wednesday, first round
Game 1: No. 12 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Vanderbilt, 6 p.m., SEC Network
Thursday, second round
Game 2: No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Mississippi State, 11 a.m, SEC Network
Game 3: No. 5 Florida vs. Game 1 winner, about 1:30 p.m., SEC Network
Game 4: No. 7 Missouri vs. No. 10 Georgia, 6 p.m., SEC Network
Game 5: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 South Carolina, about 8:30 p.m., SEC Network
Friday, quarterfinals
Game 6: No. 1 Alabama vs. Game 2 winner, 11 a.m., ESPN
Game 7: No. 4 Tennessee vs. Game 3 winner, about 1:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 8: No. 2 Arkansas vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m., SEC Network
Game 9: No. 3 LSU vs. Game 5 winner, about 8:30 p.m., SEC Network
Saturday, semifinals
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, noon, ESPN
Game 11: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, about 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Sunday, championship
Game 12: Game 10 winner vs. game 11 winner, noon, ESPN