No. 2 seeds have strong track record at SEC Tournament

Following the 2010-11 season, the SEC decided to get rid of divisions in basketball. That created a change in the seeding practice for the SEC Tournament. One year later, Missouri and Texas A&M joined the league leading to a change from 16 conference games to 18 conference games. With a decade of results, we now have some notable data points to pull from.

We have seen 11 SEC Tournaments since the division cancellation. The No. 1 seed has been the best spot to find a champion. That makes sense since it’s the conference’s best team. Five top seeds won the SEC Tournament in 11 years with Florida (2014), Kentucky (2015, 2017), and Alabama (2021, 2013) all bringing home conference tournament crowns. But the No. 2 seed has also been a profitable starting point for this postseason tournament.

Beginning in the 7:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. CT window of the 2024 SEC Tournament on Friday night, the No. 2 seed has accumulated a 16-9 (.640) overall record in the SEC Tournament with two conference titles and four runner-up finishes. The No. 2 team has a 45.45 percent chance of making it to Sunday and has only lost on Friday three times.

No. 2 seed results at the SEC Tournament

Year	Team	KenPom ranking entering tournament	Record	Tournament results
2012	Tennessee	52	18-13 (10-6)	+Lost No. 7 seed Ole Miss 77-72 OT
2013	Kentucky	36	21-10 (12-6)	+Lost No. 10 seed Vanderbilt 64-48
2014	Kentucky	25	22-9 (12-6)	+Beat No. 7 seed LSU 85-67 +Beat No. 3 seed Georgia 70-58 +Lost No. 1 seed Florida 61-60 in champ
2015	Arkansas	31	24-7 (13-5)	+Beat No. 10 seed Tennessee 80-72 +Beat No. 3 seed Georgia 60-49 +Lost No. 1 seed Kentucky 78-63
2016	Kentucky	8	23-8 (13-5)	+Beat No. 10 Alabama 85-59 +Beat No. 6 Georgia 93-80 +Beat No. 1 Texas A&M 82-77 (OT)
2017	Florida	5	24-7 (14-4)	+Lost No. 7 seed Vanderbilt 72-62 (OT)
2018	Tennessee	15	23-7 (13-5)	+Beat No. 7 seed Mississippi State 62-59 +Beat No. 6 seed Arkansas 84-66 +Lost No. 4 seed Kentucky 77-72
2019	Kentucky	8	26-5 (15-3)	+Beat No. 10 seed Alabama 73-55 +Lost No. 3 seed Tennessee 82-78
2021	Arkansas	19	21-5 (13-4)	+Beat No. 7 seed Missouri 70-64 +Lost No. 3 seed LSU 78-71
2022	Tennessee	12	23-7 (14-4)	+Beat No. 10 seed Mississippi State 72-59 +Beat No. 3 seed Kentucky 69-62 +Beat No. 8 seed Texas A&M 65-50
2023	Texas A&M	25	23-8 (15-3)	+Beat No. 10 seed Arkansas 67-61 +Beat No. 6 seed Vanderbilt 87-75 +Lost No. 1 seed Alabama 82-63
2024	Kentucky	17	23-8 (13-5)

Two consecutive No. 2 seeds have made the championship game. Kentucky (2019) and Arkansas (2021) each got to Saturday before losing to an NCAA Tournament at-large team. The No. 2 seed has not lost on Friday since 2017. The Wildcats will look to continue that trend this weekend in Nashville.

The recent history tells us that there is a very attainable path to the conference championship game despite having to play on short rest for the entire weekend.