college basketball tournament bracket attention is locked on the SEC men’s tournament as the 16-team field gets underway in Nashville. The event starts on Wednesday, March 11 and runs through the title game on Sunday, March 15 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Florida enters as the defending champion after beating Tennessee 86-77 in the 2025 championship game and then winning the NCAA tournament title.
Bracket and schedule: 16 teams, with top four byes to Friday
The SEC men’s basketball conference tournament includes all 16 teams in the conference, with the top four teams from the regular season receiving byes to the quarterfinals and not playing their first game of the tournament until Friday. The tournament is staged at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, spanning Wednesday, March 11 through Sunday, March 15.
Florida is listed as the defending SEC tournament champion, and the historical standard remains Kentucky, which has won the most SEC tournament titles with 32. The setup puts immediate pressure on the lower seeds to advance quickly, while the top four seeds wait for quarterfinal matchups.
Wednesday action: first-round finals posted, Thursday matchups timed in ET
Wednesday’s first-round slate produced four final scores:
- Game 1: No. 9 Kentucky 87, No. 16 LSU 82
- Game 2: No. 12 Auburn 79, No. 13 Mississippi State 61
- Game 3: No. 15 Ole Miss 76, No. 10 Texas 66
- Game 4: No. 11 Oklahoma 86, No. 14 South Carolina 74
Thursday’s schedule is set with game times listed in Eastern Time (ET): Game 5 features No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Kentucky at 12: 30 p. m. ET. Game 6 is No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 12 Auburn, scheduled 25 minutes after Game 5. Game 7 is No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 15 Ole Miss at 7 p. m. ET, followed by Game 8: No. 6 Texas A& M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma, 25 minutes after Game 7.
Those results and next pairings define the immediate path in the college basketball tournament bracket for several programs trying to keep the week alive in Nashville.
Immediate reactions: stakes and spotlight on Florida’s repeat push
There is “plenty at stake” across the bracket, from teams near the bottom of the conference attempting a run toward March Madness to Florida’s push to repeat as champions and strengthen its positioning for the NCAA tournament.
Florida’s defending-champion status is rooted in the league’s most recent final: the Gators beat Tennessee 86-77 in the 2025 SEC championship game, then went on to win the NCAA tournament title. That history raises the temperature for every round Florida plays, especially once the top seeds join on Friday.
Quick context: recent champions and the program with the most titles
Florida is the defending SEC tournament champion, and Kentucky holds the all-time lead in SEC tournament titles with 32. The 2026 tournament’s 16-team format and byes for the top four seeds shape the pressure points heading into the quarterfinals.
What’s next: quarterfinal entry points and the road to Sunday’s title game
The next critical step comes as Thursday’s winners advance to meet higher-seeded opponents, with the top four seeds waiting until Friday to play their first games. From there, the bracket funnels into Saturday’s semifinals (Game 13 at 1 p. m. ET and Game 14 25 minutes after Game 13, both listed for ) and Sunday’s championship (Game 15 at 1 p. m. ET).
As Nashville moves from early-round survival to the title chase, the college basketball tournament bracket will tighten fast—each win pushing teams closer to Sunday, March 15, and each loss ending the week on the spot.
