SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the conference 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, however the official conference championship is awarded to the team or teams with the best regular season record.
Format
With the abandonment of divisions in SEC men's basketball starting in 2011–12, the top four teams in the conference standings will receive first-round byes.[1] Bracketing will be identical to that of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament—note that SEC women's basketball has long been organized in a single league table without divisions.
Before 2012, the top two teams in both the Eastern and Western Divisions received byes in the first round, while #3 in the East played #6 from the West, #4 played #5, etc. The brackets were set up so that #2 would play the winner of the game involving #3 from the other division, and #1 would play the winner of the game involving #4 from the other division. Barring an upset, the semi-finals would pit #1 from one division against #2 from the other division, and the championship game would feature the regular season winners of the two divisions, although this rarely happened in practice.
History
Throughout its history, the SEC Championship basketball game held at various sites, including the Georgia Dome, Louisiana Superdome, Bridgestone Arena, the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, the Pyramid, Rupp Arena, Louisville Gardens 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[2], but the official league champion remained the team with the best regular season record.
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. Since then, the feat has been accomplished twice, first in 2008 by Georgia. In 2009, Mississippi State repeated that feat, defeating Georgia, South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee 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.
Television coverage
Champions
| Year |
School |
Site |
| 1933 |
Kentucky |
Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta, GA |
| 1934 |
Alabama |
Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta, GA |
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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 |
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No tournament from 1953-1978
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| 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 |
|
| Year |
School |
Site |
| 1987 |
Alabama |
Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, GA |
| 1988 |
Georgia[3] |
Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, LA |
| 1989 |
Alabama |
Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, TN |
| 1990 |
Alabama |
Amway 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[4][5], Atlanta, GA |
| 2009 |
Mississippi State |
St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL |
| 2010 |
Kentucky |
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN |
| 2011 |
Kentucky |
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA |
| 2012 |
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New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA |
| 2013 |
|
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN |
| 2014 |
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Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA |
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Tournament championships by school
- †Former member of the SEC
- Kentucky defeated Georgia in the 1988 SEC Tournament final, but the champion was forfeited later because of NCAA violations.[6]
Logos
Official tournament logos used for promotion of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament. (from 2005 and onward)
References
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SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
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| 1930s |
1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939
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| 1940s |
1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949
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| 1950s–1970s |
1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1954–1978 1978 • • 1979
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| 1980s |
1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989
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| 1990s |
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| 2000s |
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| 2010s |
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| Teams |
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| Championships and awards |
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