SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Full schedule + how to watch Alabama, Auburn
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Alabama finished off a season sweep of its rival with a wire-to-wire victory over Auburn Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
That result secured the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament for the Crimson Tide, giving them a double bye which means it will not start play in Nashville until Friday.
Meanwhile, the loss dropped the Tigers to a 7-11 mark in conference play to get the No. 12 seed in the bracket. That’s the lowest seed for Auburn since 2016.
Keep reading to learn more about the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament including the complete schedule + what’s on the line for the Tide and Tigers.
2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament
The bottom half of the conference will start play Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
There will be four games each of the first three days with the semifinals set for Saturday and the championship game scheduled for Sunday, just hours before the Selection Committee finalizes the NCAA Tournament bracket.
Auburn will be in the first session of the week, taking on Mississippi State in the first round. The Bulldogs won the regular season matchup by six less than a month ago.
The winner of that game will take on Tennessee. Auburn’s path to the semifinals would include having to beat three teams (MSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt) that beat the Tigers in the regular season.
Alabama will play its first game Friday night, playing either Georgia, Texas or Ole Miss.
Barring a first round upset from the Rebels, the Crimson Tide will also be facing a team who beat them in the regular season as the Bulldogs and Longhorns both have wins over Alabama already this year.
Selection Sunday
While all eyes will be on Nashville for a few days, we are now less than a week away from the full NCAA Tournament bracket being revealed at 5PM on Sunday, March 15.
Alabama is hoping one or two wins could secure a 3 seed in the big dance while winning the SEC Tournament might give the Tide an outside chance at a 2 seed for the second straight season.
Auburn has been squarely on the bubble over the last three weeks, causing plenty of debate from college basketball analysts across the country. The Tigers are currently the “last team in” as an 11 seed in the First Four, according to the most recent Bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
“…with 15 losses, it’s historically almost impossible to make the tournament as an at-large team. Auburn’s last chance to make the field of 68 likely comes down to going on an unlikely heater through the SEC tournament.”
Neil Paine, ESPN.com
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