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

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 9.09.17 AMby:Kaiden Smith•03/01/23•

kaiden__smith

With all SEC teams having just one to two regular season matchups remaining, SEC Tournament time is heating up and just around the corner. A few of the conference’s top teams have created some separation from the pack, but many remain neck and neck, vying for a better seeding when the tournament rolls around.

Based on the analytics from PlayoffStatus.com, it should be a close finish with several teams vying for byes in the SEC Tournament.

Current SEC Standings

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide – 25-4 (15-1)
  2. Texas A&M Aggies – 22-8 (14-3)
  3. Kentucky Wildcats – 20-9 (11-5)
  4. Tennessee Volunteers – 22-8 (11-6)
  5. Auburn Tigers – 19-10 (9-7)
  6. Missouri Tigers – 21-8 (9-7)
  7. Vanderbilt Commodores – 16-13 (9-7)
  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 – 13-16 (2-14)

There’s no question that the Crimson Tide have been the most dominant team in the SEC all season, ranked the No. 2 team in the entire country with high chances of being the top seed in the SEC tournament. Alabama has a 91% chance of securing the No. 1 seed, needing to fall to Auburn and the current No. 2 seed Texas A&M in their regular season finale to swap places with the Aggies in the standings.

Kentucky’s late-season surge and recent four-game winning streak has set them up nicely with an 86% chance of securing the No. 3 seed in the tournament with a magic number of one. Tennessee on the other hand has trended backward and now holds a magic number of 1 across the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 seeds, with a 69% chance of securing a first and second round bye and a 31% chance of just having a bye on the first.

The SEC’s bottom’s four teams have already been set, all of which will not have have a bye in the tournament. Georgia has fully secured the 11 seed, South Carolina has an 85% of grabbing the 12 seed, and both Ole Miss and LSU do not control their destiny for the remainder of the season.

SEC Schedule (Wednesday, March 1st)

  • Auburn @ No. 2 Alabama– 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2
  • Vanderbilt @ No. 23 Kentucky – 7 p.m. EST on SECN
  • Missouri @ LSU – 9 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)