SEC Tournament Breakdown
The Kentucky men’s basketball team can clinch at least a tie for the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division Championship as well as the league overall title with a win this week against either Auburn or Florida. A UK victory would give the Cats their seventh division title and their 41st SEC crown. A tie also would give the Wildcats the No. 1 seed for the SEC Tournament next week in Nashville, and the Cats would receive a first-round bye and play on Friday, March 9, at 3:15 p.m. ET against the winner of the fifth-place team in the East and the fourth-place team in the West.
UK will battle Auburn on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. and the game will be televised by JP Sports. The game is SeniorNight at UK for guard Saul Smith, who will be honored in pregame ceremonies. The Cats will complete the regular season at Floridaon Sunday, March 4, at noon nationally on CBS.
Entering the final week of the season, Kentucky and Ole Miss have clinched first-round byes. A UK win or a Florida loss willclinch the top seed in the East for the Cats. Should the Cats and Gators end up tied for the SEC East, UK earns the top seed due toits division record (9-0).
The Rebels can clinch the top seed in the West with a win or an Alabama loss. A Florida win or a Georgia loss will give theGators a first-round bye while an Alabama win or an Arkansas loss will clinch a first-round bye for the Crimson Tide.
In addition, LSU and Vanderbilt will be the No. 6 seeds in their respective divisions. The SEC Tournament will be held at theGaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn., March 8-11.
SEC Tournament Tiebreaker Procedure
While there are no tiebreakers for the league crown (teams just share the SEC Championship), the following tiebreakers are used to determine seedings in the SEC Tournament:
Two-team tiebreaker — head-to-head competition; division won-lost record of the two teams; won-lost record of the twoteams vs. the No. 1 seed in their division (through the No. 6 seed if necessary); non-division won-lost record; won-lost record of thetwo teams vs. the No. 1 seed in the opposite division (through the No. 6 seed if necessary); coin flip.
Three-team (or more) tiebreaker — (If two teams remain tied after a tiebreaker provision, the two-team tiebreaker formula willbe used) total won-lost record of games played among tied teams (Team A 3-1, Team B 2-2, Team C 1-3, the tiebreaker wouldthen be settled A, B, C); division won-lost record of the tied teams; won-lost record of the tied teams vs. the No. 1 in their division(through No. 6 if needed); non-division won-lost record of the tied teams; won-lost record of the tied teams vs. the No. 1 seed in theopposite division (through No. 6 seed if needed); draw by the commissioner.
