Tennessee basketball's scenarios to clinch the SEC's regular-season championship

Tennessee basketball can clinch at least a share of the SEC’s regular-season championship with a win at South Carolina on Wednesday or a win over Kentucky on Saturday. The first-place Vols are one game ahead of the Gamecocks with two games left after the win at Alabama Saturday night.

No. 4 Tennessee (23-6, 13-3 SEC) rallied from down seven points in the second half Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum to beat Alabama 81-74. South Carolina (24-5, 12-4) stayed in second place with a second-half rally of its own at home against Florida Saturday afternoon.

With at least one win next week, the Vols would finish with no more than four conference losses. South Carolina and Alabama would have to go 2-0 next week — the Gamecocks host the Vols, then go to Mississippi State while the Crimson Tide go to Florida Tuesday and host Arkansas Saturday — for either to earn a share of the regular-season title. 

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee at No. 14 South Carolina, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Tennessee and South Carolina on Wednesday are scheduled for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. The Vols are 9-1 over their last 10 games, dating back to a 63-59 home loss to the Gamecocks on January 30.

“We’ve just tried to keep our focus on what’s ahead,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said during his postgame press conference after the win at Alabama. “Not feel too good about anything. I appreciate what they’ve done, but they know we’re going to get right back at it and go to South Carolina. 

“… if I had a vote for National Coach of the Year, I’d give it to Lamont (Paris). It’s amazing what he’s done with his program and one of the great turnarounds. But we’re not done.”

There are multiples scenarios that confirm the Vols are not done.

A Tennessee loss at South Carolina and a win at home against Kentucky, paired with a South Carolina win at Mississippi State on Saturday, would mean sharing the title with the Gamecocks. Alabama going 2-0 in the same scenario would mean a three-way tie, with all three teams at 14-4.  

Another two-way tie could happen with Tennessee and South Carolina if the Vols go 1-1, the Gamecocks go 2-0 and Alabama goes 1-1. 

Potential still exists for as much as a five-way tie for first in the SEC standings after next week’s games, if the top five teams in the league all finish with five conference losses. South Carolina and Alabama are one game back of Tennessee and Auburn and Kentucky are two games back of the Vols. 

While SEC regular-season titles are shared in the event of the same league records, SEC Tournament seeding is determined by comparing records against other SEC teams, starting at the top of the standings and working down.

Tennessee with the win at Alabama cliched a double-bye into the SEC Tournament quarterfinals as one of the top-four finishers in the league.

The Vols so far are 0-1 against South Carolina, swept two games against Alabama and are 1-0 against Auburn and Kentucky.  South Carolina is 1-0 against both Tennessee and Kentucky and 0-1 against Alabama and Auburn.

Alabama went 0-2 against the Vols, 1-0 vs. South Carolina, 1-1 vs. Auburn and 0-1 against Kentucky. Auburn went 0-1 against Tennessee, 1-0 vs. South Carolina, 1-1 vs. Alabama and 0-1 vs. Kentucky.

Kentucky is 0-1 against Tennessee, 0-1 against South Carolina, 1-0 against Alabama and 0-1 against Auburn.

Tennessee has won two SEC championships under Rick Barnes

The Vols have won two SEC championships during the Barnes era, but are looking for their first outright in the regular season.

Tennessee won a share of the SEC’s regular-season title in 2017-18, when both the Vols and Auburn finished 13-5 in the league. Tennessee won the 2022 SEC Tournament title, the program’s first since 1979.

“I’ve said many times,” Barnes said, “that I think this league is the best it’s ever been in the nine years that I’ve been in it. And I don’t know if anybody has had a tougher closing schedule than we’ve had, where — it is what it is. That’s the way it worked out, but we have another week to go against two ranked teams. 

“I think every team we’ve closed with have been ranked. Every team we play from here on out is going to be an NCAA team and a team that can play deep into March.”