2026 SEC men's basketball tournament

2026 SEC men's basketball tournament
2026 SEC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2025–26
Teams	16
Site	Bridgestone Arena; Nashville, Tennessee
Champions	Arkansas (2nd title)
Winning coach	John Calipari (7th title)
MVP	Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)
Television	SEC Network, ESPN
	SEC men's basketball tournaments

2025–26 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Florida	16	–	2	.889	26	–	7	.788
No. 18 Alabama	13	–	5	.722	23	–	9	.719
No. 14 Arkansas †	13	–	5	.722	27	–	8	.771
No. 16 Vanderbilt	11	–	7	.611	27	–	8	.771
No. 23т Tennessee	11	–	7	.611	22	–	11	.667
Texas A&M	11	–	7	.611	22	–	11	.667
Georgia	10	–	8	.556	22	–	11	.667
Missouri	10	–	8	.556	20	–	12	.625
Kentucky	10	–	8	.556	21	–	13	.618
Texas	9	–	9	.500	20	–	14	.588
Oklahoma	7	–	11	.389	19	–	15	.559
Auburn	7	–	11	.389	18	–	16	.529
Mississippi State	5	–	13	.278	13	–	19	.406
South Carolina	4	–	14	.222	13	–	19	.406
Ole Miss	4	–	14	.222	15	–	20	.429
LSU	3	–	15	.167	15	–	17	.469

† 2026 SEC tournament winner As of March 19, 2026 Rankings from AP poll

The 2026 SEC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2025–26 season for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The tournament was held from March 11–15, 2026 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.^[1]^[2] The winner, Arkansas, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.

Seeds

All 16 members of the SEC participated in the tournament. The top eight seeds earned a bye to the second round, with the top four seeds earninh a double bye to the quarterfinals. Ties were broken by head-to-head results, results vs. the top-seed and going on down until the tie is broken, and finally a coin toss (or a drawing of lots if three or more teams are involved).^[3]

Seed	School	Conference record	Tiebreaker 1	Tiebreaker 2
1	Florida	16–2
2	Alabama	13–5	1–0 vs. Arkansas
3	Arkansas	13–5	0–1 vs. Alabama
4	Vanderbilt	11–7	2–1 vs. Tennessee/Texas A&M	1–0 vs. Alabama
5	Tennessee	11–7	2–1 vs. Vanderbilt/Texas A&M	1–1 vs. Alabama
6	Texas A&M	11–7	0–2 vs. Vanderbilt/Tennessee
7	Georgia	10–8	2–0 vs. Missouri/Kentucky
8	Missouri	10–8	1–1 vs. Georgia/Kentucky
9	Kentucky	10–8	0–2 vs. Georgia/Missouri
10	Texas	9–9
11	Oklahoma	7–11	1–0 vs. Auburn
12	Auburn	7–11	0–1 vs. Oklahoma
13	Mississippi State	5–13
14	South Carolina	4–14	1–0 vs. Ole Miss
15	Ole Miss	4–14	0–1 vs. South Carolina
16	LSU	3–15

Schedule

Game	Time	Matchup	Score	Television	Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 11
1	11:30 a.m.	No. 9 Kentucky vs. No. 16 LSU	87–82	SECN	12,722
2	2:00 p.m.	No. 12 Auburn vs. No. 13 Mississippi State	79–61		12,722
3	6:00 p.m.	No. 10 Texas vs. No. 15 Ole Miss	66–76		10,701
4	8:30 p.m.	No. 11 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 South Carolina	86–74		10,701
Second round – Thursday, March 12
5	11:30 a.m.	No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Kentucky	72–78	SECN	15,719
6	2:00 p.m.	No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 12 Auburn	72–62		15,719
7	6:00 p.m.	No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 15 Ole Miss	72–76		11,457
8	8:30 p.m.	No. 6 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma	63–83		11,457
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 13
9	12:00 p.m.	No. 1 Florida vs. No. 9 Kentucky	71–63	ESPN	17,864
10	2:30 p.m.	No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 Tennessee	75–68	ESPN	17,864
11	6:00 p.m.	No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 15 Ole Miss	79–80	SECN	15,085
12	8:30 p.m.	No. 3 Arkansas vs. No. 11 Oklahoma	82–79	SECN	15,085
Semifinals – Saturday, March 14
13	12:00 p.m.	No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt	74–91	ESPN	16,612
14	2:30 p.m.	No. 3 Arkansas vs. No. 15 Ole Miss	93–90^OT	ESPN	16,612
Championship – Sunday, March 15
15	12:00 p.m.	No. 3 Arkansas vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt	86–75	ESPN	18,377
Game times in CT. Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket


First round Wednesday, March 11 SECN			Second round Thursday, March 12 SECN			Quarterfinals Friday, March 13 ESPN/SECN			Semifinals Saturday, March 14 ESPN			Championship Sunday, March 15 ESPN



						1	Florida	71

			8	Missouri	72	9	Kentucky	63

9	Kentucky	87	9	Kentucky	78				1	Florida	74

16	LSU	82							4	Vanderbilt	91

						4	Vanderbilt	75

			5	Tennessee	72	5	Tennessee	68

12	Auburn	79	12	Auburn	62							4	Vanderbilt	75

13	Mississippi State	61										3	Arkansas	86

						2	Alabama	79

			7	Georgia	72	15	Ole Miss	80

10	Texas	66	15	Ole Miss	76				15	Ole Miss	90

15	Ole Miss	76							3	Arkansas	93*

						3	Arkansas	82

			6	Texas A&M	63	11	Oklahoma	79

11	Oklahoma	86	11	Oklahoma	83

14	South Carolina	74

Source:^[4]

* denotes overtime period

References

^ "Men's Basketball Championship". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
^ Organ, Mike. "SEC basketball tournament to stay in Nashville through 2035". The Tennessean. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
^ "Tournament Tiebreakers". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
^ "2026 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2026.

[1] "Men's Basketball Championship". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2026.

[2] Organ, Mike. "SEC basketball tournament to stay in Nashville through 2035". The Tennessean. Retrieved January 16, 2026.

[3] "Tournament Tiebreakers". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2026.

[4] "2026 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2026.

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2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	ACC America East American ASUN Atlantic 10 Big 12 Big East Big Sky Big South Big Ten Big West CAA CUSA Horizon Ivy MAAC MEAC Mid-American MVC Mountain West NEC OVC Patriot SEC Southern Southland Summit Sun Belt SWAC WAC West Coast
National	NCAA NIT CBC