On Saturday night, the SEC Men’s Basketball Conference completed its final regular-season games, as ranked teams look to build their March Madness resumes further.
Among the day’s results were No. 5 Florida visiting Kentucky and coming away with a seven-point win, No. 16 Alabama defeating Auburn 96-84, and Texas falling to Oklahoma in an overtime clash, 88-85.
With the conclusion of those games last night, the SEC released its official 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket, which gives fans a look at all the seedings and scheduled matchups.
SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament Schedule 2026
As one would expect, Florida is the No. 1 seed, and the defending champions are attempting to repeat as both SEC champions and NCAA champions this year. However, they’ll face some challenging contenders along the way.
As the top seed in their tournament, the Gators won’t play until Friday, as they’ll have a bye until the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. The same goes for No. 2-seeded Alabama, No. 3-seeded Arkansas, and No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt.
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The SEC Tournament first-round games tip off on Wednesday, March 11, at 11:30 a.m. with No. 10 seed LSU facing No. 9 seed Kentucky. At least 25 minutes after the conclusion of that game, No. 13 Mississippi State takes on No. 12 Auburn.
Wednesday’s first round concludes with No. 10 seed Texas against No. 15 seed Ole Miss at 6 p.m., followed by No. 14 South Carolina against No. 11 Oklahoma at least 25 minutes later. All of these games are on the SEC Network.
The winners of Wednesday’s games move on to face No. 8 Missouri, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 7 Georgia, and No. 6 Texas A&M in Thursday’s second round.
The No. 1-seeded Florida Gators, No. 2-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide, No. 3 Arkansas, and No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores await their quarterfinal opponents on Friday, March 12. Those will be the winners of the second-round games, with games televised on the SEC Network and ESPN.
Here is a look at the full bracket with all seedings, matchups, and game schedules for the upcoming SEC Tournament.
The SEC Tournament Semifinals arrive on Saturday, March 14, with the first matchup beginning at 12 p.m., followed by the second matchup at least 25 minutes after its conclusion.
Those two winners will battle it out for the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship in the Finals on Friday, beginning at 12 p.m. on ESPN.
Who could help their NCAA Tournament case?
This particular tournament has multiple teams expected to participate in the 64-team NCAA Tournament, with Florida among those expected to snag a No. 1 seed. In addition, Alabama, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky are considered NCAA Tournament-bound.
In his bracketology, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects 10 or 11 SEC teams to make the Big Dance. He listed Texas A&M among the teams that would enter the NCAA Tournament, indicating they would skip the First Four round.
Winning the SEC Tournament outright could give another team not projected to make the Big Dance an entry, though. In what would be an amazing story, Auburn could earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the SEC Tournament.
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