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Tennessee Basketball needs one more win to clinch double-bye in SEC Tournament

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 19 hours•

GrantRamey

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
(Randy Sartin-Imagn Images ) Feb 5, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) goes to the basket against the Missouri Tigers during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Tennessee Basketball needs one win this week to clinch a spot in the top four in the SEC standings and clinch a double-bye in the SEC Tournament.

The fifth-ranked Vols (24-5, 11-5 SEC), coming off the 79-76 win over No. 6 Alabama Saturday in Knoxville, go to Ole Miss (20-9, 9-7) on Wednesday (9 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) and host South Carolina on Saturday in the regular-season finale on Senior Day at Food City Center in Knoxville. 

Auburn clinched the SEC’s regular-season championship with its win at Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. Florida and Alabama are tied for second with 12-4 SEC records, with the two teams meeting in Tuscaloosa Wednesday night. 

Florida hosts Ole Miss on Saturday after going to Alabama, while the Crimson Tide close at Auburn.

Tennessee is fourth in SEC standings, one game ahead of Missouri

Tennessee at 11-5 is fourth in the league standings, one game ahead of Missouri at 10-6. Missouri lost in overtime at Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Vols have the tiebreaker against Mizzou after beating the Tigers 85-81 in Knoxville on February 5.

Tennessee could finish as high as second in the league if the Vols, Alabama and Florida all finish at 13-5, which would require both Alabama and Florida going 1-1 this week and Tennessee going 2-0. 

The Vols would hold the three-way tiebreaker, with a 2-1 record against Alabama and Florida. Alabama would be 1-1 against Florida and Tennessee and Florida would be 1-2 against Tennessee and Alabama.

Tennessee was one-and-done as the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament last year, losing 73-56 to Mississippi State before going on a run to the Elite Eight. The Vols were the No. 5 seed in 2023, beating No. 13 Ole Miss before losing to No. 4 Missouri in the quarterfinal round. 

Tennessee won the SEC Tournament in 2022, its first conference tournament title since 1979. The Vols lost in the semifinal round to Alabama in 2021 and went to the championship game in both 2018 and 2019, losing to Kentucky in St. Louis in 2018 and to Auburn in Nashville in 2019. 

The SEC Tournament Bracket 

The SEC Tournament bracket starts with four games on Wednesday, March 12 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with all games over the first two days on SEC Network. 

The No. 16 seed plays No. 9 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time followed by No. 13 and No .12 in Game 2. At 7 p.m. ET is No. 15 vs. No. 10 and No. 14 vs. No. 11 following in the late game. 

Day 2 next Thursday starts with the No. 8 seed vs. the 9-16 winner, then No. 5 vs. the 12-13 winner. The No. 7 seed faces the 10-15 winner at 7 p.m. ET and No. 6 faces the 11-14 winner in the late game. 

Auburn play as the No. 1 seed Friday, March 14, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN and the No. 4 seed will play in the second game of the afternoon session, facing No. 5, No. 12 or No. 13.

The No. 2 seed plays at 7 p.m. ET on Day 3, against either the No. 7, No. 10 or No. 15 and the No. 4 plays the late game, against either the No. 6, the No. 11 or the No. 14.

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