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There is basketball to be played on Broadway this week.
The SEC Men’s Basketball tournament returns to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for the fourth year in a row and the 13th time since 2001 from March 11-15. The hometown Vanderbilt Commodores enter the week as the No. 4 overall seed, earning a bye for the first two rounds.
The Black and Gold finished their in-conference slate with a record of 11-7, a stark improvement from last year’s 8-10 mark that placed them as the No. 12 seed in the conference tournament. In the 2025 SEC bracket, the Commodores fell 79-72 to the No. 13 Texas Longhorns in a disappointing outcome.
Head coach Mark Byington will look to lead his squad to a better outcome in his second time around at Bridgestone, as they are one of the true contenders for the SEC crown.
Standing in Vanderbilt’s way is rival No. 5 Tennessee, as well as Auburn and Mississippi State. Florida, the 2026 SEC Regular Season Champions, likely await the winner of that section, as the Gators look to defend their 2025 SEC Tournament title, while No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Arkansas stand formidable on the other side of the bracket.
While the SEC may seem very top-heavy this year, single-elimination basketball in March is wild and unpredictable. This year’s conference tournament is set up for upsets, and whether those occur or not, there will be some epic clashes later in the week.
Kentucky, the SEC’s “blue blood” basketball school, has greatly disappointed this year. The Wildcats went 10-8 in SEC play, but just 5-7 in Quad 1 conference games. Entering as the No. 9 seed, Kentucky will face off against No. 16 LSU, which has been the SEC’s worst team on both sides of the ball. However, their earlier matchup Jan. 14 was a classic — as Kentucky erased an 18-point deficit and won 75-74 on a buzzer-beating jumper by Malachi Moreno. In Nashville, though, expect “Big Blue Nation” to have a big crowd presence and help boost their Wildcats’ chances of victory.
Should the Wildcats handle business in the first round, an explosive Missouri team awaits. The Tigers have been inconsistent this year, but have one of the best inside-outside offenses in the country, featuring sharpshooters Jacob Crews and Jayden Stone, who both shot over 42% from three in conference play. Big man Mark Mitchell has been excellent at post scoring and drawing fouls, averaging 17.9 points per game on 54.7% shooting while being third in the SEC in free-throw rate.
While a Kentucky-Missouri matchup feels like a toss-up, either team would have to face Florida in the quarterfinals. The Gators struggled in nonconference play, but have turned around and gone 16-2 since New Year’s. Riding off an 11-game win streak, Florida’s chemistry is peaking at the right time. The backcourt of Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee has been explosive, and Reuben Chinyelu and Alex Condon have been strong anchors in the paint. Add in do-it-all forward Thomas Haugh, and head coach Todd Golden’s squad looks poised to repeat as both SEC and national champions. Still, Missouri is one of the few teams that handed the Gators a loss, so Florida must keep its foot on the gas pedal to achieve its ambitions.
No. 13 Mississippi State will face No. 12 Auburn in the first round, in a matchup that will be more interesting than it is marketed. The Tigers, in their first season under head coach Steven Pearl, went just 7-11 in SEC play and will likely need a victory in Nashville to get them into the NCAA Tournament, as they are currently considered a “bubble” team. The point guards will decide their bout with the Bulldogs, as Tahaad Pettiford will have the tough task of guarding the SEC’s leading scorer, Josh Hubbard (22.1 points per game).
The No. 5-seeded Volunteers will await the winner, likely angry after their senior day loss to Vanderbilt. Tennessee enters the postseason having lost three of its last four games, but star freshman Nate Ament should be back in the lineup on Thursday after missing the last two games with a leg injury. The Volunteers will enter either matchup as a heavy favorite.
While watching their rivals get upset would be fun for Commodore fans, all signs point towards a third Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee epic. With each team having won on its rivals’ home court, this would be an opportunity for either side to get the edge over its rival and take the season series. Despite being played in Nashville, this would be far from a home game for Vanderbilt, as crowds of Tennessee orange will swarm the state capitol, as they do even in Memorial Gymnasium. This “Whiskey Bowl” rematch in the heart of Tennessee would be one of the best storylines of the tournament, and the victor would be able to carry rivalry-level momentum for the rest of the week.
No. 15 Ole Miss and No. 11 Texas open this section of the bracket in a matchup between two teams that have had uneven seasons. In head coach Chris Beard’s third season, the Rebels finished 4–14 in conference play but still feature several capable scorers. AJ Storr leads Ole Miss with 15.0 points per game, while forward Malik Dia adds 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. Texas, meanwhile, went 9–9 in the SEC in its first season under head coach Sean Miller. The Longhorns rely heavily on guard Dailyn Swain, who leads the team in points (17.7), rebounds (7.5), assists (3.4) and steals (1.8) per game.
Awaiting the winner is No. 7 Georgia, which quietly put together a strong regular season under fourth-year head coach Mike White. Guard Jeremiah Wilkinson leads the Bulldogs with 17.3 points per game, while Blue Cain, Somtochukwu Cyril and Marcus Millender add scoring depth and playmaking to support a well-rounded Georgia lineup. Georgia also picked up a recent 98-88 win over Alabama at home, which could make a potential rematch in Nashville particularly interesting.
Standing atop the section is No. 2 Crimson Tide — one of the most explosive teams in the conference. In veteran head coach Nate Oats’ seventh season, the Crimson Tide went 13-5, featuring the SEC’s best performing offense, averaging 92.1 points per game. Guard Labaron Philon Jr. leads the team with 21.5 points per game, while Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell provide additional scoring from the perimeter, averaging 16.8 and 13.3 points per game, respectively.
Alabama enters the tournament as the clear favorite to advance from this portion of the bracket, but Georgia has already shown it can compete with the Tide. If the Bulldogs reach the quarterfinals, a rematch between the two could be one of the more compelling games of the tournament.
The next portion of the bracket begins with a contest between No. 14 South Carolina and No. 11 Oklahoma, pairing two programs whose SEC runs were inconsistent, but who still possess the offensive pieces to pose problems for opponents. In his fourth season in Columbia, head coach Lamont Paris has leaned heavily on guard Meechie Johnson, who averages 17.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. Oklahoma, meanwhile, enters the tournament under fifth-year head coach Porter Moser with a balanced offense that averages 82.7 points per game, led by Nijel Pack (16.1 PPG) and Xzayvier Brown (15.6 PPG). With multiple perimeter scoring options, the Sooners could have the edge in what may become a fast-paced contest. However, they did suffer a 76-85 loss to the Gamecocks earlier in the season in Columbia.
Awaiting the winner is No. 6 Texas A&M, beginning a new era under first-year head coach Bucky McMillan. Known for his up-tempo “Bucky Ball” system, McMillan encourages constant pressure and quick offensive possessions. The Aggies average 88.5 points per game, fourth-most in the SEC, and are led by forward Rashaun Agee, who posts 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, while guards Rylan Griffen, Marcus Hill, Ruben Dominguez and Pop Isaacs complete a well-balanced starting five where each player averages double-digit points per game.
Standing atop the section is No. 3 Arkansas, whose offense has been among the most explosive in the conference. In his second season in Fayetteville, head coach John Calipari has built a Razorbacks team that averages 90.2 points per game, the third-highest in the SEC. Guard Darius Acuff Jr. leads the way with 22.2 points and 6.4 assists per game — one of the most productive seasons by a ballhandler in the country — while MeLeek Thomas and Trevon Brazile add scoring and versatility around him.
Arkansas enters the tournament as the favorite to advance from this section of the bracket, but Texas A&M’s frenetic tempo and Oklahoma’s perimeter shooting could make this one of the most unpredictable portions of the SEC Tournament.
Vanderbilt will play its quarterfinal match at 2:30 p.m. CDT on March 13 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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Men’s Basketball: Previewing the SEC tournament – The Vanderbilt Hustler
