The days of SEC basketball being the also-ran amongst the Power 6 conferences in college basketball are long gone. In fact, this year’s SEC Tournament field might be the strongest of any in the country. The top four teams managed to separate themselves in the SEC basketball standings with Auburn claiming sole possessions of the regular-season title. Each of Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas finished out the season strong to bring momentum into the tournament. Then, there’s a log-jam of seven teams that all finished within two games of each other. It wouldn’t be surprising to have another wild tournament after Alabama ran through the draw to win its first championship in three decades a year ago. The following contains the SEC Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
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SEC Basketball Standings
| Team | Conf. Record | Overall Record | Seed |
| Auburn | 15-3 | 27-4 | 1 seed |
| Tennessee | 14-4 | 23-7 | 2 seed |
| Kentucky | 14-4 | 25-6 | 3 seed |
| Arkansas | 13-5 | 24-7 | 4 seed |
| LSU | 9-9 | 21-10 | 5 seed |
| Alabama | 9-9 | 19-12 | 6 seed |
| South Carolina | 9-9 | 18-12 | 7 seed |
| Texas A&M | 9-9 | 20-11 | 8 seed |
| Florida | 9-9 | 19-12 | 9 seed |
| Mississippi State | 8-10 | 17-14 | 10 seed |
| Vanderbilt | 7-11 | 15-15 | 11 seed |
| Missouri | 5-13 | 11-20 | 12 seed |
| Ole Miss | 4-14 | 13-18 | 13 seed |
| Georgia | 1-17 | 6-25 | 14 seed |
SEC Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 9-13
TV Schedule: SEC Network (First Round, Second Round, Quarterfinals 1 and 2); ESPN (Quarterfinals 3 and 4, Semifinals, Championship Game)
Venue: Amalie Arena — Tampa, FL
Byes: Top 10 receive single bye; Top 4 receive double-bye
Defending Champion: Alabama
SEC Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (11) Vanderbilt 86, (14) Georgia 51
- (12) Missouri 72, (13) Ole Miss 60
Second Round
- (5) LSU 76, (12) Missouri 68
- (11) Vanderbilt 82, (6) Alabama 76
- (10) Mississippi State 73, (7) South Carolina 51
- (8) Texas A&M 83, (9) Florida 80 (OT)
Quarterfinals
- (8) Texas A&M 67, (1) Auburn 62
- (2) Tennessee 72, (10) Mississippi State 59
- (3) Kentucky 77, (11) Vanderbilt 71
- (4) Arkansas 79, (5) LSU 67
Semifinals
- (2) Tennessee 69, (3) Kentucky 62
- (8) Texas A&M 82, (4) Arkansas 64
Championship
- (2) Tennessee 65, (8) Texas A&M 50
Tennessee advances to NCAA Tournament
SEC Conference Breakdown
For a long while, Kentucky dominated the SEC Tournament bracket year after year. In recent seasons, this trend has begun to change in favor of a more competitive conference throughout the season and in the tournament. 2022 regular-season champ Auburn won the SEC basketball tournament in 2019, snapping a string of four consecutive championships for Kentucky. Last year, we had a pair of fresh faces in the title game as Alabama knocked off LSU in a thriller. The fact that last year’s finalists are only seeded sixth and fifth a year later is a true testament to the depth and talent across the SEC.
In terms of statistics, it is Kentucky that emerges as the frontrunner in this year’s SEC Tournament bracket. Despite only finishing third in the final SEC basketball standings, the Wildcats boast the league’s top ranking in both the College Basketball NET and KenPom overall efficiency. However, when it comes to SEC schools that are highly-regarded at the national level, Kentucky is far from alone. Both top-seed Auburn and 2-seed Tennessee also finished with top-10 rankings in the NET. Arkansas, LSU and Alabama all joined the heavyweights with top-30 NET rankings. In total, 11 of the SEC’s 14 member schools finished within the top-100 of the NET.
There was a fair bit of shuffling from the projected order of finish in the preseason poll to the final SEC basketball standings. While Kentucky may have lived up to expectations as far as the numbers are concerned, Auburn deserves credit for winning the regular-season title after only being picked to finish fifth. That four-spot jump was also achieved by 7-seed South Carolina and 8-seed Texas A&M. Meanwhile, both 6-seed Alabama and 13-seed Ole Miss finished four spots below where the preseason poll projected them.
Team Stats | 2022 SEC Basketball Tournament
(1) Auburn Tigers
Net Ranking: 10 (No. 3 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 7 (No. 2 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 114.5 (No. 22)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 89.3 (No. 8)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +8.80 (No. 30)
(2) Tennessee Volunteers
Net Ranking: 8 (No. 2 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 12 (No. 3 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 111.3 (No. 43)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 87.3 (No. 3)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +11.35 (No. 7)
(3) Kentucky Wildcats
Net Ranking: 4 (No. 1 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 3 (No. 1 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 121.1 (No. 3)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 93.7 (No. 22)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +8.55 (No. 35)
(4) Arkansas Razorbacks
Net Ranking: 20 (No. 5 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 19 (No. 5 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 111.4 (No. 42)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 91.9 (No. 16)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +7.37 (No. 48)
(5) LSU Tigers
Net Ranking: 17 (No. 4 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 17 (No. 4 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 108.1 (No. 88)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 88.2 (No. 5)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +9.09 (No. 27)
(6) Alabama Crimson Tide
Net Ranking: 27 (No. 6 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 22 (No. 6 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 117.0 (No. 13)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 99.1 (No. 94)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +13.01 (No. 1)
(7) South Carolina Gamecocks
Net Ranking: 91 (No. 11 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 95 (No. 11 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 103.0 (No. 189)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 94.7 (No. 30)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +9.07 (No. 28)
(8) Texas A&M Aggies
Net Ranking: 57 (No. 8 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 58 (No. 9 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 109.1 (No. 77)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 96.3 (No. 47)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +6.07 (No. 68)
(9) Florida Gators
Net Ranking: 55 (No. 7 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 53 (No. 8 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 111.6 (No. 37)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.3 (No. 74)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +7.53 (No. 47)
(10) Mississippi State Bulldogs
Net Ranking: 58 (No. 9 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 51 (No. 7 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 110.4 (No. 63)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 96.8 (No. 52)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +7.70 (No. 43)
(11) Vanderbilt Commodores
Net Ranking: 71 (No. 10 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 69 (No. 10 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 106.9 (No. 109)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 95.5 (No. 40)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +8.21 (No. 38)
(12) Missouri Tigers
Net Ranking: 150 (No. 13 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 136 (No. 13 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 104.3 (No. 160)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 101.4 (No. 133)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +10.51 (No. 12)
(13) Ole Miss Rebels
Net Ranking: 113 (No. 12 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 105 (No. 12 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 106.2 (No. 121)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 100.2 (No. 113)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +7.87 (No. 40)
(14) Georgia Bulldogs
Net Ranking: 225 (No. 14 in SEC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 221 (No. 14 in SEC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 107.1 (No. 104)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 111.1 (No. 319)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +8.39 (No. 37)
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