UK heads to SEC Tournament aiming to lock up NCAA bid. Here’s the bracket
Likely needing just one win to cement a NCAA Tournament at-large bid, Kentucky baseball was swept in heartbreaking fashion in the final regular season series at No. 9 Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats blew ninth inning leads in the Thursday and Friday games, losing on walk-off home runs. On Saturday, Vanderbilt rallied from an early deficit again to finish the sweep with a 5-3 win.
Now coming off the first College World Series appearance in program history last season, Kentucky enters the 2025 SEC Tournament on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The Wildcats are 29-23 overall and 13-17 in Southeastern Conference play. As of Sunday, Kentucky was ranked 36th in the NCAA’s RPI metric. Twelve of UK’s 12 SEC losses came by a total of 17 runs. The Wildcats are 10-13 against ranked teams and have nine Quad 1 victories.
Nick Mingione’s squad will be the No. 13 seed at the SEC Tournament in Hoover this week, opening play on Tuesday against No. 12 seed Oklahoma. The Wildcats swept Oklahoma, with the Sooners ranked No. 14 nationally, a week ago in Lexington. Oklahoma lost two of three games against No. 3 Texas in the final regular season series. Tuesday’s game, the tournament’s second game of the day, is scheduled to start around 2 p.m.SEC Tournament
At Hoover, Ala.
With the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC this season, the conference tournament has shifted to a 16-team, single-elimination format. The top four teams received double byes in the format. Teams seeded fifth through eighth received one bye. The bottom eight teams open play on Tuesday and will need to win five games to win the tournament.
The winner of Kentucky and Oklahoma will face No. 5 seed Georgia on Wednesday. The winner of that game would advance to face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on Thursday.
No. 1 seed Texas, No. 8 seed Tennessee, No. 9 seed Alabama and No. 16 seed Missouri are also on Kentucky’s side of the bracket.
SEC Tournament
At Hoover, Ala.
All times Eastern
TUESDAY
10:30 a.m.: No. 9 seed Alabama vs. No. 16 seed Missouri (SEC Network)
About 2 p.m.: No. 12 seed Oklahoma vs. No. 13 seed Kentucky (SEC Network)
About 5:30 p.m.: No. 10 seed Florida vs. No. 15 seed South Carolina (SEC Network)
About 9 p.m.: No. 11 seed Mississippi State vs. No. 15 seed Texas A&M (SEC Network)
WEDNESDAY
10:30 a.m.: No. 8 seed Tennessee vs. Alabama/Missouri winner (SEC Network)
About 2 p.m.: No. 5 seed Georgia vs. Oklahoma/Kentucky winner (SEC Network)
About 5:30 p.m.: No. 7 seed Ole Miss vs. Florida/South Carolina winner (SEC Network)
About 9 p.m.: No. 6 seed Auburn vs. Mississippi State/Texas A&M winner (SEC Network)
THURSDAY
4 p.m.: No. 1 seed Texas vs. Tennessee/Alabama/Missouri winner (SEC Network)
About 7:30 p.m.: No. 4 seed Vanderbilt vs. Georgia/Oklahoma/Kentucky winner (SEC Network)
FRIDAY
4 p.m.: No. 2 seed Arkansas vs. Ole Miss/Florida/South Carolina winner (SEC Network)
About 7:30 p.m.: No. 3 seed LSU vs. Auburn/Mississippi State/Texas A&M winner (SEC Network)
SATURDAY
Semifinals at 1 p.m. and about 4:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
SUNDAY
Final at 3 p.m. (ESPN2)