Kentucky's updated SEC Tournament scenarios after the win over Missouri

by:Tyler Thompson•about 22 hours•

MrsTylerKSR

Bridgestone Arena before the games tip off at the SEC Tournament - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Kentucky’s win over Missouri was big on many levels, especially when it comes to SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding. With the win, the Cats will avoid the No. 8 seed in Nashville, which would have meant playing the winner of No. 9 seed Arkansas and No. 16 seed South Carolina to face No. 1 Auburn on Friday. Kentucky could now be the No. 5, 6, or 7 seed, which will be determined by two games later today: No. 22 Texas A&M at LSU and Ole Miss at No. 5 Florida.

The most unlikely scenario is the No. 5 seed. That would require Florida to beat Ole Miss, which wouldn’t be a surprise, but also LSU to upset Texas A&M. Those results would create a four-way tie at 10-8 in the SEC standings between Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss. Kentucky would win the tiebreaker due to its percentage in pool play (.667) and the head-to-head win over Texas A&M. The No. 5 seed will face the winner of the No. 13 seed (Texas) and No. 12 seed (Vanderbilt) in the second game on Thursday.

The No. 6 seed is the most likely landing spot for Kentucky. There are two ways the Cats can get there. The easiest path is Texas A&M beating LSU and Florida beating Ole Miss, which would create a three-way tie between Kentucky, Missouri, and Ole Miss. The Cats and the Tigers both have wins over Florida, which would give them a leg up on Ole Miss. Kentucky wins the two-way tie due to today’s win in Columbia.

The other path to the No. 6 seed would be LSU beating Texas A&M and Ole Miss beating Florida, both upsets. The No. 6 seed plays the winner of the No. 14 seed (Oklahoma) and No. 11 seed (Georgia) in the final game on Thursday night.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

If Texas A&M beats LSU and Ole Miss beats Florida, Kentucky would get the No. 7 seed in Nashville, which would mean playing the winner of the No. 15 seed (LSU) and No. 10 seed (Mississippi State) in the first game on Thursday night.

Midway through Saturday, most of the SEC Tournament seeds have been set. Here is where we stand:

1. Auburn
2. Florida
3. Alabama or Tennessee
4. Alabama or Tennessee
5-8: All open with Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Missouri involved
9: Arkansas
10: Mississippi State
11: Georgia
12. Vandy
13. Texas
14. Oklahoma
15. LSU
16. South Carolina