SEC Men's Basketball Tournament

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The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (currently 12). Its seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

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[edit] Format

The top two teams in both the Eastern and Western Divisions receive byes in the first round, while #3 in the East plays #6 from the West, #4 plays #5, etc. The brackets are set up so that #2 will play the winner of the game involving #3 from the other division, and #1 will play the winner of the game involving #4 from the other division. Barring an upset, the semi-finals will pit #1 from one division against #2 from the other division, and the championship game will feature the regular season winners of the two divisions, although this rarely happens in practice.

[edit] History

Throughout its history, the SEC Championship basketball game held at various sites, including the Georgia Dome, the Superdome, the Sommet Center, the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, the Pyramid, Rupp Arena, and (in an emergency relocation) Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech.

From 1933-50, the SEC Champion was determined by a tournament, except for 1935. Beginning in 1951, a round-robin schedule was introduced and the SEC title was awarded to the team with the highest in-conference winning percentage. From 1951-64, the round-robin consisted of 14 games. In 1965 and 1966, it was expanded to 16 games. From 1967-91, the round-robin schedule was 18 games. In 1992, the SEC split into an Eastern and Western Division but continued to recognize an SEC Champion based on a winning percentage over the new 16-game conference schedule. The league also began awarding division championships. In 1979, the tournament was renewed with the winner receiving the SEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.[1]

In 2000, the Arkansas Razorbacks became the first team since the league expansion in 1992 to win the conference tournament by playing all four days, beating Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Auburn to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Basketball Championships.

The first seven games of the 2008 Men's Tournament were played at the Georgia Dome. During overtime of Game 7 between Mississippi State and Alabama, a tornado struck the downtown Atlanta area, damaging the Georgia Dome and several buildings surrounding it, including CNN Center. MSU and Alabama returned after a 64-minute delay to finish their game, but the last quarterfinal game of the day, between Georgia and Kentucky, was postponed until the next day, and the remaining four games of the tournament were moved to Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech. Only credentialed individuals were allowed to attend, including players' families, bands, cheerleaders, and media. No other spectators were allowed in the building.

[edit] Champions

Year School Site
1933 Kentucky Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta, GA
1934 Alabama Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta, GA
No tournament in 1935
1936 Tennessee Alumni Memorial Gym, Knoxville, TN
1937 Kentucky Alumni Memorial Gym, Knoxville, TN
1938 Georgia Tech Huey Long Field House, Baton Rouge, LA
1939 Kentucky Alumni Memorial Gym, Knoxville, TN
1940 Kentucky Alumni Memorial Gym, Knoxville, TN
1941 Tennessee Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1942 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1943 Tennessee Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1944 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1945 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1946 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1947 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1948 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1949 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1950 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1951 Vanderbilt Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
1952 Kentucky Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
No tournament from 1953-1978
1979 Tennessee Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, AL
1980 LSU Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, AL
1981 Ole Miss Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, AL
1982 Alabama Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
1983 Georgia Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, AL
1984 Kentucky Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
1985 Auburn Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, AL
1986 Kentucky Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
1987 Alabama Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, GA
1988 VACATED Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, LA
1989 Alabama Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, TN
1990 Alabama Orlando Arena, Orlando, FL
1991 Alabama Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
1992 Kentucky Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, AL
1993 Kentucky Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
1994 Kentucky The Pyramid, Memphis, TN
1995 Kentucky Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
1996 Mississippi State Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
1997 Kentucky The Pyramid, Memphis, TN
1998 Kentucky Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
1999 Kentucky Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2000 Arkansas Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2001 Kentucky Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, TN
2002 Mississippi State Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2003 Kentucky Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
2004 Kentucky Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2005 Florida Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2006 Florida Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, TN
2007 Florida Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2008 Georgia Georgia Dome and Alexander Memorial Coliseum [1] , Atlanta, GA
2009 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
2010 Sommet Center, Nashville, TN
2011 Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
2012 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA

[edit] References