Here’s the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament schedule
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky lost to No.5 Florida and faces 16-seed LSU Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
- Win Wed and Kentucky meets 8-seed Missouri Thurs at 12:30 p.m. on SEC Network
- Florida is No.1; Alabama No.2, Arkansas No.3, Vanderbilt No.4 (double byes)
A missed opportunity in the final game of the regular season means that Kentucky will have to play on the opening day of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville.
With an 84-77 loss to No. 5 Florida on Saturday in Rupp Arena, the Cats ultimately dropped to the 9 seed in the conference tournament bracket. Mark Pope’s team will begin postseason play against the 16-seeded LSU Tigers at 12:30 p.m. ET Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena.
That game will be shown on SEC Network.
UK beat LSU in their only meeting this season, winning 75-74 on Jan. 14 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Malachi Moreno’s buzzer-beating jump shot.
If the Cats can win Wednesday, they’ll play 8-seeded Missouri at 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday in a game that will also be shown on SEC Network.
If Kentucky can beat both LSU and Missouri, it will play top-seeded Florida in the tournament quarterfinals at 1 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN.
Thanks to the other results around the league Saturday, the Cats could have clinched the 4 seed and a double bye into Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals with a victory over the Gators, who had already secured the top seed in the league but were still fighting for a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when they came to Lexington for the regular season finale.
The defeat not only dropped Kentucky out of contention for that double bye, but the Cats missed out on a single bye into the Thursday games due to a logjam in the middle of the SEC standings.
Florida is the 1 seed with a 16-2 league record. Alabama and Arkansas both finished at 13-5 in the conference, and the Crimson Tide earned the 2 seed thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Vanderbilt (11-7) got the final double bye, securing the 4 seed thanks to a win at Tennessee on Saturday and Kentucky’s home loss to Florida. Tennessee and Texas A&M both finished 11-7 in the league, too, but they ended up as the 5 and 6 seeds, respectively, due to tiebreakers.
UK (10-8) finished in a three-way tie with Georgia and Missouri for seventh place in the league, but the Bulldogs will be the 7 seed and the Tigers earned the 8 seed, which gave them the final bye into Thursday’s games.
That tie was settled on the basis of record among the teams in the three-way tie. Georgia was 2-0, Missouri was 1-1 and Kentucky was 0-2. The Cats played both Mizzou and Georgia in Rupp Arena, yet they lost both games.
UK has not won the SEC Tournament championship since 2018, which was also the last time the Cats advanced to the title game of league tourney.
2026 SEC Tournament schedule
Wednesday’s games
Game 1: (9) Kentucky vs. (16) LSU, 12:30 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 2: (12) Auburn vs. (13) Mississippi State, 3 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 3: (10) Texas vs. (15) Ole Miss, 7 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 4: (11) Oklahoma vs. (14) South Carolina, 9:30 p.m. on SEC Network
Thursday’s games
Game 5: (8) Missouri vs. Game 1 winner, 12:30 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 6: (5) Tennessee vs. Game 2 winner, 3 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 7: (7) Georgia vs. Game 3 winner, 7 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 8: (6) Texas A&M vs. Game 4 winner, 9:30 p.m. on SEC Network
Friday’s games
Game 9: (1) Florida vs. Game 3 winner, 1 p.m. on ESPN
Game 10: (4) Vanderbilt vs. Game 4 winner, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
Game 11: (2) Alabama vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 12: (3) Arkansas vs. Game 6 winner, 9:30 p.m. on SEC Network
Saturday’s games
Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 1 p.m. on ESPN
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
Sunday’s game
Championship: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 1 p.m. on ESPN
This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 11:19 PM.
