Southeastern Conference to adopt new 16-team SEC Baseball Tournament format in 2025

The Southeastern Conference has agreed on a new format for the SEC Baseball Tournament beginning in 2025, the first year that Oklahoma and Texas will join the league.

According to a press release, the league will have a 16-team tournament that will be single elimination. The top four seeds in the tournament will receive a double bye, while the teams seeded fifth through eighth will receive a single bye.

The new format will replace the existing format, which is a blend of single elimination and double elimination.

The new tournament format was approved by the league’s athletics directors in advance of the arrival of Oklahoma and Texas, which will move the league to 16 teams. The old tournament format will remain in place for one more season this spring before being retired.

Though the SEC Tournament format will be changing in 2025, the regular season will still consist of 30 conference games for each team, with 10 three-game series played over the course of 10 weekends.

The new scheduling format will have each team facing two permanent opponents and eight rotating opponents on an annual basis, with no divisional format.

SEC Baseball Tournament Format (beginning May 2025)

Tuesday
Game 1: Seed No. 9 vs. Seed No. 16
Game 2: Seed No. 12 vs. Seed No. 13
Game 3: Seed No. 10 vs. Seed No. 15
Game 4: Seed No. 11 vs. Seed No. 14

Wednesday
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Seed No. 8
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Seed No. 5
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. Seed No. 7
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Seed No. 6

Thursday
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Seed No. 1
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Seed No. 4

Friday
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Seed No. 2
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Seed No. 3

Saturday
Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12

Sunday
Game 15: Championship – Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14