How No. 9 seeds have performed in SEC Tournament

Another college basketball postseason has arrived. Kentucky’s March run will once again begin at the SEC Tournament. The Wildcats find themselves in an unfamiliar place this year in Nashville. This is going to be different.

Kentucky will start this year’s conference tournament as the No. 9 seed. This is the lowest seed for the program since the SEC broke away from a division structure in 2012. Thanks to recent conference expansion, this tournament now runs for five days and begins on Wednesday. UK will be forced to start on day one. This is going to be strange for everyone involved.

The Wildcats will need to win five games in five days to claim the program’s 32nd SEC Tournament championship. To do that, they will have to do something no other team in this conference has done yet.

How likely is it for Kentucky to advance far into this tournament? We have 13 years of data to tell us how teams placed in the No. 9 slot have faired in this tournament. This will be only the second year where the No. 9 seed has had to play on Wednesday due to the league’s recent expansion to 16 teams. The overall record is not great and advancing is difficult due to the matchup with the No. 1 seed looming in the quarterfinals.

No. 9 seed in SEC Tournament since 2012

2012

• No. 8 LSU 70, No. 9 Arkansas 54

2013

• No. 9 LSU 68, No. 8 Georgia 63
• No. 1 Florida 80, No. 9 LSU 58

2014

• No. 8 Missouri 91, No. 9 Texas A&M 83 (OT)

2015

• No. 8 Florida 69, No. 9 Alabama 61

2016

• No. 8 Florida 68, No. 9 Arkansas 61

2017

• No. 8 Georgia 59, No. 9 Tennessee 57

2018

• No. 9 Alabama 71, No. 8 Texas A&M 70
• No. 9 Alabama 81, No. 1 Auburn 63
• No. 4 Kentucky 86, No. 9 Alabama 63

2019

• No. 8 Florida 66, No. 9 Arkansas 50

2021

• No. 9 Mississippi State 74, No. 8 Kentucky 73
• No. 1 Alabama 85, No. 9 Mississippi State 48

2022

• No. 8 Texas A&M 83, No. 9 Florida (OT)

2023

• No. 9 Mississippi State 69, No. 8 Florida 68 (OT)
• No. 1 Alabama 72, No. 9 Mississippi State 49

2024

• No. 9 Mississippi State 70, No. 8 LSU 60
• No. 9 Mississippi State 73, No. 1 Tennessee 56
• No. 4 Auburn 73, No. 9 Mississippi State 66

2025

• No. 9 Arkansas 72, No. 16 South Carolina 68
• No. 8 Ole Miss 83, No. 9 Arkansas 80

Since the SEC changed its tournament formant to best overall for team placement, the No. 9 seed is 9-13 overall. This seed has only made the semifinals twice (2018, 2024) and has never made it to the championship game on Sunday. When the No. 9 does advance to Friday, those teams are 2-4 outright against No. 1 seeds.

Kentucky has only played in the 8-9 game once. Mississippi State won a thriller after blowing a 15-point lead. Lead guard Iverson Molinar scored eight points in the final three minutes. Now Kentucky is just a win versus LSU away from playing in this game again.

The No. 9 seed is a true coin flip (6-7) against the No. 8 seed but has had some limited success when playing the No. 1 seed.

SEC Tournament titles

Kentucky has won 31 SEC Tournament titles. The rest of the current SEC members have combined to win 33 SEC Tournament titles. UK is looking for its first crown since 2018. Alabama (2021, 2023) and Auburn (2019, 2024) have each won two over the last six tournaments.

Florida will be the favorite this weekend. The Gators are searching for a sixth SEC Tournament title. This is the only school to repeat (2005-07) outside of Kentucky since 1991.

Kentucky	31	1933, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Alabama	8	1934, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2021, 2023
Tennessee	5	1936, 1941, 1943, 1979, 2022
Florida	5	2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2025
Auburn	3	1985, 2019, 2024
Mississippi State	3	1996, 2002, 2009
Ole Miss	2	1981, 2013
Vanderbilt	2	1951, 2012
Georgia	2	1983, 2008
Arkansas	1	2000
LSU	1	1980
Georgia Tech	1	1938