All 14 SEC teams will descend on the Georgia Dome for the 2014 SEC Championship, but there is little question which one is the easy favorite to come away with the conference title.
SEC Tournament 2014 bracket: Florida the top seed with perfect league record
The Gators ran the table in the SEC regular season and are the heavy favorites headed into the conference tournament, but the surging Tennessee Volunteers could pose a challenge in the semifinals.
Rob Foldy
Top-seeded and No. 1 in the nation Florida went undefeated in the SEC, capping the regular season with a 19-point blowout over second-place Kentucky. Overall, the Gators have lost just twice all year and not since Dec. 2. Since then, they’ve reeled off 18 conference victories and beaten then-No. 13 Kansas and then-No. 15 Memphis.
But before Florida even takes the court, Atlanta will host two days of tournament competition. It all starts Wednesday night when No. 12 Auburn meets No. 13 South Carolina, then No. 11 Vanderbilt plays No. 14 Mississippi State. The winner of the first game will play Arkansas on Thursday, while the winner of the second game draws Ole Miss.
The Gators will play their first conference tournament game on Friday afternoon against the winner of Texas A&M and Missouri, who play in another one of Thursday’s second-round games. Second-seeded Kentucky, third-seeded Georgia and fourth-seeded Tennessee also open tournament play on Friday.
Onions!: Presenting POPPIN' THURSDAY
And while the bracket is set up to pit Florida and Kentucky against one another in the final, the Gators' toughest test might come in the semifinals against Tennessee, should Florida and Tennessee both advance. The Volunteers have won four in a row and five out of six in order to play themselves onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. They are desperate to make one more statement to the Selection Committee, while Florida has just about locked up a No. 1 seed anyway. The Gators beat Tennessee by nine in their most recent meeting on Feb. 11 but needed a late second-half surge to seal the win.
Must Reads
On the other side of the bracket, Kentucky limps into the tournament having lost three out of four, plummeting out of the Top 25 and losing NCAA Tournament seeding along the way. The Wildcats finished tied with Georgia for second in the SEC and owned the tie-breaker to capture the 2 seed. But despite finishing near the top of a power conference, the Bulldogs are not close to an at-large bid due to a sketchy 18-12 overall record and some bad early-season losses.
Here is the full tournament schedule (All times Eastern):
Wednesday:
No. 12 Auburn vs. No. 13 South Carolina, 7 p.m., SEC TV/ESPN3
No. 11 Vanderbilt vs. No. 14 Mississippi State, 9:30 p.m., SEC TV / ESPN3
Thursday:
No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Texas A&M, 1 p.m., SEC TV/ ESPN3
Auburn/South Carolina vs. No. 5 Arkansas, 3:30 p.m., SEC TV/ESPN3
No. 7 LSU vs. No. 10 Alabama, 7 p.m., SEC TV/ESPN3
Vanderbilt/Mississippi State vs. No. 6 Ole Miss, 9:30 p.m., SEC TV/ESPN3
Friday:
Missouri/Texas A&M vs. No. 1 Florida, 1 p.m., ESPNU
Auburn/South Carolina/Arkansas vs. No. 4 Tennessee, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU
LSU/Alabama vs. No. 2 Kentucky, 7 p.m., SEC TV/ESPN3
Vanderbilt/Mississippi State/Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia, 9:30 p.m., SEC TV/ESPN3
Saturday:
Friday afternoon winners, 1 p.m., ABC
Friday night winners, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday:
Championship Game, 3:15 p.m., ESPN
The full SEC Tournament bracket can be found here:
See More:
