SEC MEN’S TOURNAMENT
When: Wednesday through Sunday
Where: Georgia Dome
First round (Wednesday)
Game 1: #12 Auburn vs. #13 South Carolina, 7 p.m. (SEC TV)
Game 2: #11 Vanderbilt vs. #14 Mississippi State, approximately 9:30 p.m. (SEC TV)
Second round (Thursday)
Game 3: #8 Missouri vs. #9 Texas A&M, 1 p.m. (SEC TV)
Game 4: #5 Arkansas vs. Game 1 winner, approximately 3:30 p.m. (SEC TV)
Game 5: #7 LSU vs. #10 Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC TV)
Game 6: #6 Ole Miss vs. Game 2 winner, approximately 9:30 p.m. (SEC TV)
Quarterfinals (Friday)
Game 7: #1 Florida vs. Game 3 winner, 1 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 8: #4 Tennessee vs. Game 4 winner, approximately 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 9: #2 Kentucky vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m. (SEC TV)
Game 10: #3 Georgia vs. Game 6 winner, approximately 9:30 p.m. (SEC TV)
Semifinals (Saturday)
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 25 minutes after Game 11 (ABC)
Finals (Sunday)
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 3:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Georgia was picked to finish 11th in the SEC this season. Kentucky was picked to finish first in the league – and the nation.
Yet the Bulldogs and the Wildcats will arrive at the Georgia Dome for the SEC men’s basketball tournament this week with the same record in league play: 12-6, tied for second place in the regular-season standings.
Georgia’s reward for its most SEC wins in a season since 1990 is a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament — Kentucky got the No. 2 seed because the Wildcats beat the Bulldogs in the teams’ only meeting — and a double bye into the quarterfinals.
Georgia won’t play until the late game Friday (approximately 9:30 p.m.) against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt or Mississippi State. Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, the Nos. 11 and 14 seeds, respectively, meet Wednesday night in the second game of the tournament’s opening session. The winner of that game plays No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Thursday night. The winner of that one faces Georgia.
The Bulldogs are on the opposite side of the tournament bracket from top-seeded Florida, which rolled through an unbeaten regular season (18-0) in league play. The earliest the Bulldogs (18-12 overall) could run into the Gators (29-2 overall) would be Sunday’s final. The Gators enter the tournment ranked No. 1 nationally in both major polls.
Georgia will face Kentucky in Saturday’s semifinals if both teams win Friday. Kentucky (22-9 overall) was ranked preseason No. 1 in both polls but by last week was No. 24 (coaches) and 25 (Associated Press).
A bye into the quarterfinals is an unexpected accomplishment for a Georgia team that went 9-9 in the SEC the prior season, lost league player-of-the-year Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the NBA and last fall was picked third from the bottom in the conference’s preseason media survey.
The Bulldogs struggled early to replace Caldwell-Pope, going 6-6 in non-conference games, but started to find their way with a Jan. 8 victory at Missouri. The 12-6 SEC record is Georgia’s best since it went 13-5 and won the school’s only regular-season SEC title in 1990. The Bulldogs have won eight of their past 10 games.
“We tied for second place in the league, and not very many people outside of that (locker) room believed that was going to happen,” coach Mark Fox told reporters after a win at LSU on Saturday.
“What’s important for us is that we play Friday and that we get ready to play that game, no matter who it’s going to be (against),” Fox added on his postgame radio show. “I think this team understands when they play the right way and stay focused, we can be a good basketball team. We still have a small margin for error, so we have to play the game the right way.
“And fortunately for us, the last six weeks, we’ve been doing that.”
The tournament begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday with No. 12 seed Auburn versus No. 13 South Carolina.
Thursday’s action starts with a 1 p.m. game between the league’s second-year members, No. 8 Missouri and No. 9 Texas A&M. The winner draws Florida in the first quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Friday.
Kentucky opens at 7 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday night’s LSU-Alabama game.
In addition to Florida, Kentucky and Georgia, No. 4 seed Tennessee also has a double bye.
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