Kentucky now has conceivable path to No. 2 seed in SEC Tournament

Todd Golden record a marquee win at Florida on Tuesday night at home when the Gators throttled No. 16 Alabama to improve to 21-9 (11-6). That means Alabama is officially out of No. 1 seed contention for the SEC Tournament. One more win for Tennessee will give Rick Barnes and the Vols the top seed in the 2024 SEC Tournament.

The result in Gainesville also opened a path for Kentucky to get to the No. 2 seed if the Wildcats can defeat Vanderbilt and Tennessee this week.

that was a fun one 🥳#GoGators | presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/2ViaqvqKPm

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 6, 2024

South Carolina (12-4) still has a chance at the No. 1 seed if the Gamecocks win out. Alabama (12-5), Auburn (11-5), and Kentucky (11-5) all have a shot to grab the No. 2 seed depending on tiebreakers. However, the Wildcats own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Alabama and Auburn. That means the Wildcats will finish ahead of both in any tie situation.

If South Carolina finishes the season 1-1 (or even 0-2), Kentucky would win the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed over the Gamecocks, Alabama, and Auburn. How? Overall winning percentage in the pool of teams involved.

• Kentucky (2-1)
• Alabama (2-2)
• Auburn (2-2)
• South Carolina (1-2)

Kentucky would get the No. 2 seed over both Alabama and Auburn. South Carolina could slip all the way to the No. 5 seed with just one loss this week.

If Tennessee were to drop to 13-5, that would create quite the mess. Especially if South Carolina beat Tennessee only to turnaround and loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. So let’s play out the scenarios.

With a five-way tie at 13-5, Tennessee would come out as the No. 1 seed due to overall record against the pool.

• Tennessee (4-3)
• South Carolina (3-2)
• Kentucky (3-2)
• Auburn (2-3)
• Alabama (2-4)

Kentucky would drop to the No. 3 seed since the Wildcats had the same winning percentage against South Carolina. Since that happens, we go back to head-to-head wins which the Gamecocks own. There is still a path to a No. 3 seed for Kentucky, but it is a crazy one.

Just win, baby

All of this is out the window unless Kentucky wins out. The Wildcats can still get to the double-bye at 12-6 with a 1-1 finish this week, but they would need another Alabama loss. Landing the No. 5 seed still seems like the most logical ending, but now there is a path to a No. 2 seed due to Florida’s big win on Tuesday night.

Entering the last two games, Kentucky has a No. 2 through No. 5 seed window for the SEC Tournament. What do you need to cheer for? For the Cats to win out and for Tennessee to beat South Carolina on Wednesday.