2026 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Updated bracket, results, schedule, TV

The 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament is finally here and the race for a conference crown begins. The tournament began with four first round games Wednesday.

The top four teams in the SEC got a double bye while teams No. 5 through 8 received one bye into the second round. Florida, the reigning national champions, were the favorites to win the SEC coming in.

So without further ado, let’s dive into the SEC Tournament bracket, results and schedule! We begin with the first game of the championship bracket.

SEC Tournament First Round (Wednesday, March 11)

Game 1: No. 9 Kentucky def. No. 16 LSU, 87-82 [LSU eliminated]

After a hotly contested first 30 minutes, Kentucky finally created some breathing room midway through the second half. A pair of 3-pointers from Brandon Garrison put the Wildcats comfortably in front and started the offensive stretch that decided the game. Kentucky hung on from there, icing the game with free throws to advance to a matchup against Missouri.

Game 2: No. 12 Auburn def. No. 13 Mississippi State, 79-61 [Mississippi State eliminated]

After a back-and-forth first 25 minutes, Auburn began to assert itself and take charge in the contest. Kevin Overton was on fire from beyond the arc, nailing six 3-point shots to score a game-high-tying 22 points. The win keeps Auburn’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive and sets up a must-win showdown against Tennessee.

Game 3: No. 15 Ole Miss 76, No. 10 Texas 66 [Texas eliminated]

Ole Miss took a 41-30 lead over Texas into halftime, but the Longhorns mounted the charge and got as close as three points in the second half. However, the Rebels pulled away to get the wire-to-wire, 76-66 victory and send No. 10-seeded Texas home from the SEC men’s basketball tournament. Malik Dia led all scorers with 23 points while AJ Storr had 18.

Game 4: No. 11 Oklahoma 86, No. 14 South Carolina 74 [South Carolina eliminated]

South Carolina led by 13 points with seven minutes to go in the first half, but Oklahoma kicked things into gear from there. The Sooners got hot and stayed hot en route to the 86-74 victory, sending OU to the second round of the SEC tournament. Nijel Pack had 24 points to lead the charge and Derrion Reid added 20.

SEC Tournament Second Round (Thursday, March 12)

Game 5: No. 9 Kentucky 78, No. 8 Missouri 72 [Missouri eliminated]

On Thursday, Kentucky defeated Missouri 78-72 in a heated battle. Wildcats guard Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 21 points, while shooting 9-18 from the field and 2-6 from beyond the arc. Kentucky’s Denzel Aberdeen trailed close behind, notching 16 points in the win. Kentucky will advance to face off against Florida. The Wildcats went 0-2 against the Gators in the regular season.

Game 6: No. 5 Tennessee 72, No. 12 Auburn 62 [Auburn eliminated]

After trailing by as many as 11 points, Tennessee put together quite the rally in the second half against Auburn. The Volunteers ended the game on a 31-11 run – including a stretch of 20 straight points – to defeat the Tigers, 68-62, and advance to the SEC tournament quarterfinals. Nate Ament led the charge for the Vols with 27 points.

Game 7: No. 15 Ole Miss 76, No. 7 Georgia 72 [Georgia eliminated]

As Ole Miss looked for a second straight wire-to-wire upset win in the SEC tournament, Georgia mounted a charge and got within two points in the final few seconds. But the No. 15-seeded Rebels were able to prevail and secure the victory to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. Ole Miss will now get ready to take on Alabama on Friday night.

Game 8: No. 11 Oklahoma 83, No. 6 Texas A&M 63 [Texas A&M eliminated]

Oklahoma dominated the first half of Thursday’s SEC tournament second-round game against Texas A&M and never looked back en route to the 83-63 victory. Nijel Pack led the way with 20 points to help Sooners pick up their sixth straight win against an SEC opponent.

SEC Tournament Quarterfinals (Friday, March 13)

Game 9: No. 1 Florida 71, No. 9 Kentucky 63 [Kentucky eliminated]

Florida completed the three-game sweep of Kentucky this season with a 71-63 win to open play in Nashville on Friday. It marks the first time since the 2013-2014 season that the Gators have achieved this feat. The Wildcats, which trailed for most of the second half, puled within five points with 1:21 remaining. A dagger Xaivian Lee three for the Gators, however, helped cement the win.

Game 10: No. 4 Vanderbilt 75, No. 5 Tennessee 68 [Tennessee eliminated]

In the second SEC tournament quarterfinal game on Friday, Tennessee and Vanderbilt squared off in a back-and-forth affair. It came down to the final minute, which is when Jalen Washington threw down a dunk to put the Commodores up by five points as they went on to seal the victory over the Vols and advance to the semifinals. Duke Miles led the charge for Vanderbilt with 30 points while Tyler Tanner had 19.

Game 11: No. 15 Ole Miss 80, No. 2 Alabama 79 [Alabama eliminated]

Heading into Friday’s matchup against Alabama, Ole Miss had yet to trail in the SEC tournament. The Rebels then fought off a late Crimson Tide surge to get yet another wire-to-wire win, taking down No. 2 seed Alabama and advancing to the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

Game 12: No. 3 Arkansas 82, No. 11 Oklahoma 79 [Oklahoma eliminated]

The nightcap to Friday’s slate of SEC tournament quarterfinal games delivered as Arkansas and Oklahoma traded blows. Neither team led by more than eight, but the Razorbacks did enough in the second half to pull away and secure the victory. Darius Acuff had another standout performance to lead the way as he put up 37 points, five rebounds and five assists for John Calipari’s group.

SEC Tournament Semifinals (Saturday, March 14)

Game 13: No. 4 Vanderbilt 91, No. 1 Florida 74 [Florida eliminated]

Vanderbilt led the reigning national champions by 23 points with 8:11 left to go in the second half. Despite the Gators chopping the lead down to 14 in the final two minutes of regulation. However, the Commodores held strong to win by 17. The Commodores shot 21-23 from the free throw line and had 21 assists as a team. They were led by 18 points by Tyler Tanner and 17 from Jalen Washington off the bench.

Game 14: No. 3 Arkansas 93, No. 15 Ole Miss 90 (OT) [Ole Miss eliminated]

Ole Miss went into Saturday’s semifinal game against Arkansas looking to continue its impressive SEC Tournament run, and it turned into quite the showdown as the Rebels and Razorbacks battled it out. AJ Storr helped Ole Miss force overtime after going coast-to-coast for a last-second layup and the Rebels continued to put up a fight through the extra period. It wasn’t enough, though, as Arkansas held on for the victory and advanced to Sunday’s championship.

SEC Championship Game (Sunday, March 15)

Game 15: No. 3 Arkansas 86, Vanderbilt 75 (Vanderbilt eliminated)

Arkansas went on a 12-0 over a 2:32 stretch in the final three minutes of regulation to help the Razorbacks secure its first SEC Tournament title since 2000. The key moment during that stretch was Trevon Brazile nailing a 3-point shot with 2:01 left in regulation to push the lead to eight before blocking a Jalen Washington layup on the other end to ice the game. Darius Acuff scored 30 points and 11 assists during the win.