The excitement of March Madness is here, and the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament is set to take center stage at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. With Auburn securing the No. 1 seed after a dominant 15-3 conference record, the stage is set for an electrifying five days of basketball from March 12-16, 2025.
SEC Tournament Bracket and Format
The SEC Tournament features all 16 teams, with the top four seeds—Auburn, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee—receiving a double bye into the quarterfinals. Seeds 5-8 start in the second round, while seeds 9-16 battle it out in the first round.
The tournament champion will earn the SEC’s automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, adding extra stakes to an already high-intensity competition.
2025 SEC Tournament Seeds
- Auburn Tigers (15-3 SEC)
- Florida Gators (14-4 SEC)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (13-5 SEC)
- Tennessee Volunteers (12-6 SEC)
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Missouri Tigers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Texas Longhorns
- Oklahoma Sooners
- LSU Tigers
- South Carolina Gamecocks
Full Schedule and TV Information
First Round – Wednesday, March 12
- Game 1: No. 9 Arkansas vs. No. 16 South Carolina – 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 2: No. 12 Vanderbilt vs. No. 13 Texas – 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 3: No. 10 Mississippi State vs. No. 15 LSU – 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 4: No. 11 Georgia vs. No. 14 Oklahoma – 9:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Second Round – Thursday, March 13
- Game 5: No. 8 Ole Miss vs. Game 1 winner – 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 6: No. 5 Texas A&M vs. Game 2 winner – 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 7: No. 7 Missouri vs. Game 3 winner – 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 8: No. 6 Kentucky vs. Game 4 winner – 9:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 14
- Game 9: No. 1 Auburn vs. Game 5 winner – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Game 10: No. 4 Tennessee vs. Game 6 winner – 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Game 11: No. 2 Florida vs. Game 7 winner – 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Game 12: No. 3 Alabama vs. Game 8 winner – 9:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Semifinals – Saturday, March 15
- Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner – 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Championship Game – Sunday, March 16
- Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Key Storylines to Watch
1. Auburn’s Path to SEC Supremacy
Auburn enters the tournament as the top seed, aiming to cap off an impressive regular season with a championship run. The Tigers will face a team coming off a first-round victory, which could pose a challenge early in the tournament.
2. Alabama and Florida in the Hunt
Alabama and Florida both finished strong in SEC play, and with each earning a top-three seed, both teams are legitimate contenders to cut down the nets in Nashville.
3. Potential Cinderella Runs
Could a lower-seeded team pull off an upset and make a deep tournament run? Teams like Kentucky and Missouri have the talent to shake up the bracket and make things interesting.
Oklahoma Sooners: A Dangerous Underdog?
Oklahoma enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 14 seed, but the Sooners have proven they can light up the scoreboard. OU is the only team in the nation to have six different players score at least 25 points in a game this season—Jeremiah Fears, Jalon Moore, Brycen Goodine, Duke Miles, Kobe Elvis, and Dayton Forsythe. No other Power Four team has had more than four players achieve this feat.
The Sooners are also one of just four teams in the country to have two freshmen (Fears and Forsythe) each score 25-plus in a game this season, joining Duke, Central Arkansas, New Orleans, and Rutgers. Fears has done it four times, including a career-high 31 points in a win over No. 15 Missouri. Forsythe dropped 25 in a close loss to Ole Miss.
Efficiency is another strong suit for Oklahoma. The Sooners lead the SEC and rank fifth nationally in free throw percentage (.798), on pace to shatter the school’s single-season record. In conference play, they are one of only two teams—alongside No. 1 Auburn—to rank in the top five in field goal percentage (.464, fifth), three-point shooting (.367, fifth), and free throw percentage (.782, first).
Super senior guard Kobe Elvis has been red-hot from beyond the arc, shooting 60% (9-for-15) from three over the last four games. Meanwhile, the Sooners have maintained consistency in their lineup, starting the same five players—Moore, Sam Godwin, Fears, Goodine, and Miles—over the last 14 games.
Despite their low seed, Oklahoma has the offensive firepower and shooting efficiency to cause problems in the SEC Tournament. If their top scorers get hot, the Sooners could be a dangerous upset pick in Nashville.
How to Watch the 2025 SEC Tournament
Fans can catch all the action on SEC Network and ESPN. The championship game will air nationally on ESPN, with the winner securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Stay tuned for live updates, scores, and analysis throughout the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Which team will emerge victorious in Nashville? The journey starts March 12!
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