2023 SEC Basketball Tournament: Updated projected seeds, schedule, magic numbers

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•02/26/23•

BarkleyTruax

The SEC has been Alabama’s to lose since the start of conference play this year. The Tide, alongside Texas A&M, have seperated themselves from the pack and have proved to be the only two teams worthy enough to play for top seed in the conference tournament heading into the final week of the regular season.

Based on the analytics from PlayoffStatus.com, we should be in for a close finish with these two teams vying for the top spot in the SEC Tournament.

Current SEC Standings

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide – 25-4 (15-1)
  2. Texas A&M Aggies – 21-8 (13-3)
  3. Kentucky Wildcats – 20-9 (11-5)
  4. Tennessee Volunteers – 21-8 (10-6)
  5. Missouri Tigers – 21-8 (9-7)
  6. Auburn Tigers – 19-10 (9-7)
  7. Vanderbilt Commodores – 16-13 (9-7)
  8. Arkansas Razorbacks – 19-10 (8-8)
  9. Florida Gators – 14-15 (7-9)
  10. Mississippi State Bulldogs – 19-10 (7-9)
  11. Georgia Bulldogs – 16-13 (6-10)
  12. Ole Miss Rebels – 11-18 (3-13)
  13. South Carolina Gamecocks – 10-19 (3-13)
  14. LSU Tigers – 13-16 (2-14)

Alabama has not won the SEC outright — yet. If the Crimson Tide beat Auburn on Wednesday, the Tide will be your SEC regular season champions and head into the conference tournament as the SEC’s top overall seed. If the Tigers defeat Alabama and enters Saturday’s matchup against Texas A&M with two conference losses — as long as Texas A&M defeats Ole Miss on Tuesday — the Aggies and Tide will duke it out for the regular season title head to head.

For your magic numbers, Alabama has a 94 percent chance of locking up the top overall spot. As mentioned before — all they have to do is win on Wednesday. That’s something they’ve done plenty of this season, and we have no reason to believe that will stop anytime soon.

Upcoming SEC Schedule

There are no SEC games until Tuesday, Feb. 28 and will feature four conference matchups headlined by Arkansas at No. 11 Tennessee. The Razorbacks are a tough draw for a Tennessee team that is holding onto its SEC Tournament double-bye by just one game with two games left on the docket.

  • Florida @ Georgia | 7 p.m. on SECN
  • Arkansas @ No. 11 Tennessee | 9 p.m. on ESPN2
  • No. 25 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss | 9 p.m. ESPNU
  • South Carolina @ Mississippi State | 9 p.m. on SECN

Tournament Schedule

First Round: Wed., March 8
Game 1: No. 12 seed vs. No. 13 seed | 7 p.m. on SECN
Game 2: No. 11 seed vs. Game 14 | 9 p.m. on SECN

Second Round: Thurs., March 9
Game 3: No. 9 seed vs. No. 8 seed | 1 p.m. on SECN
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 seed | 3 p.m. on SECN
Game 5: No. 10 seed vs. No. 7 seed | 7 p.m. on SECN
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 seed | 9 p.m. on SECN

Quarterfinals: Fri., March 10
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 1 seed | 1 p.m. on ESPN
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 seed | 3 p.m. on ESPN
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 seed | 7 p.m. on SECN
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. No. 3 seed | 9 p.m. on SECN

Semifinals: Sat., March 11
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner | 1 p.m. on ESPN
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 3 p.m. on ESPN

Championship: Sun., March 12
Championship: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 1 p.m. on ESPN

(All Times Eastern)