Basketball
Basketball SEC Tournament 2024: Men’s Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates, Live Stream Info
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The 2024 SEC tournament has arguably the deepest field of potential winners across men’s basketball’s power conferences.
The Tennessee Volunteers topped the regular-season standings, but they lost at home to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.
Kentucky, at its best, could challenge any of the top teams in the SEC and across the country.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers could argue the same. Those two teams, Kentucky and Tennessee only need to win three games in Nashville to cut down the nets.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs and Texas A&M Aggies will have the early eyes of the tournament on them because of their NCAA tournament statuses. Mississippi State is the last team on the “Last Four Byes” line according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, while Texas A&M is last on the “Next Four Out” line.
Basketball SEC Tournament Bracket and Schedule
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Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Wednesday, March 13
No. 12 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Vanderbilt (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
No. 11 Georgia vs. No. 14 Missouri (9:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Thursday, March 14
No. 8 LSU vs. No. 9 Mississippi State (1 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
No. 5 South Carolina vs. No. 12/13 winner (3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Ole Miss (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
No. 6 Florida vs. No. 11/14 winner (9:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Friday, March 15
No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 8/9 winner (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 5 vs. 12/13 winner (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 7/10 winner (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
No. 3 Alabama vs. No. 6 vs. 11/14 winner (9:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Saturday, March 16
Semifinal No. 1 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Semifinal No. 2 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Sunday, March 17
Championship Game (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Basketball Predictions
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Kentucky’s win over Tennessee on Saturday proved the Volunteers aren’t the only squad with title-winning potential heading to Nashville.
The Wildcats’ win in Knoxville ended Tennessee’s seven-game winning streak that included wins over Alabama, Auburn and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Vols should feel safe about their prospects of reaching the championship game. Auburn and South Carolina each had three losses against the top four SEC programs.
Kentucky’s biggest danger lies with Alabama, who it beat 117-95 on February 24 in Lexington. The Crimson Tide went 2-3 in their last five games and fell twice to Tennessee.
Despite those defeats, the Crimson Tide can compete with anyone in the SEC if its offense is at its best.
South Carolina and Florida could be dangerous quarterfinal foes for Auburn and Alabama, but winning four games in four days will be difficult.
Mississippi State needs to beat the LSU Tigers in the second round to set up a shot against Tennessee to solidify its NCAA tournament hopes.
Texas A&M most likely needs to reach the final, which its done in each of the last two seasons, to reach the Big Dance.
Multiple wins seem unlikely, though, for Mississippi State and Texas A&M because of the depth at the top of the SEC.
A third Tennessee-Kentucky showdown seems likely based on their performances over the last month, but a case could be made for any of the top four seeds to reach the championship game.
Projection: Tennessee over Kentucky
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