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

On3 imageby:Kaiden Smith•03/02/23•

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The end of the basketball regular season is near. And with each team having one game remaining before tournament play begins, the SEC standings for the SEC Tournament are starting to give a true glimpse of the tournament picture.

With the SEC Tournament now less than a week away, some teams still have some room to improve in their final game of the season according to the analytics from PlayoffStatus.com.

Current SEC Standings

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide – 26-4 (16-1)
  2. Texas A&M Aggies – 22-8 (14-3)
  3. Kentucky Wildcats – 20-10 (11-6)
  4. Tennessee Volunteers – 22-8 (11-6)
  5. Missouri Tigers – 22-8 (10-7)
  6. Vanderbilt Commodores – 17-13 (10-7)
  7. Auburn Tigers – 19-11 (9-8)
  8. Mississippi State Bulldogs – 20-10 (8-9)
  9. Arkansas Razorbacks – 19-11 (8-9)
  10. Florida Gators – 15-15 (8-9)
  11. Georgia Bulldogs – 16-14 (6-11)
  12. South Carolina Gamecocks – 10-20 (3-14)
  13. Ole Miss Rebels – 11-19 (3-14)
  14. LSU Tigers – 13-17 (2-15)

Alabama and Texas A&M have now officially secured and solidified the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds for the SEC Tournament, despite the two teams facing off in the regular season finale.

The current No. 3 seed Kentucky climbed up the standings all season, and despite their most recent loss to Vanderbilt, still have a 75% chance of securing a first and second round bye with the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Tennessee on the other hand will need a win over Auburn and some help from others to earn themselves two byes in the tournament.

Vanderbilt and Auburn have 81% and 96% chances of maintaining their current seeding, while the SEC’s bottom four teams are set in stone and will not receive a bye.

SEC Schedule (Saturday, March 4th)

  • No. 2 Alabama @ No. 24 Texas A&M – 12 p.m. EST on CBS
  • Georgia @ South Carolina – 1 p.m. EST on SECN
  • No. 12 Tennessee @ Auburn – 2 p.m. EST on ESPN
  • No.23 Kentucky @ Arkansas– 2 p.m. EST on CBS
  • Ole Miss @ Missouri – 3 p.m. EST on SECN
  • LSU @ Florida – 6 p.m. EST on SECN
  • Mississippi State @ Vanderbilt– 8:30 p.m. EST 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)