The stage is nearly set for Tennessee.
The Vols (22-9, 11-7 SEC), who dropped their regular season finale, 79-70 at Auburn on Saturday, will be the No. 5 seed in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
A double-bye as well as a fourth and possible three seed were in play for Tennessee early Saturday, but its loss–coupled with Missouri and Kentucky wins–regulated the Vols to play on the second day of the tournament on Thursday.
The Vols will face the winner of No. 12 seed South Carolina and No. 13 seed Ole Miss at 3 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
Tennessee swept the Gamecocks (11-20, 4-14) by a combined 83 points in two of their regular season meetings. The Vols won the most recent meeting 85-45 in Knoxville on Feb. 25.
In their lone regular season matchup, Tennessee beat the Rebels 63-59 in Oxford on Dec. 28, 2022.
South Carolina and Ole Miss (11-20, 3-15) will play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Here is the entire tournament field, seedlings and TV/times:
Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 12 South Carolina vs. No. 13 Ole Miss – 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Game 2: No. 11 Georgia vs. No. 14 LSU – 9 p.m. ET On SEC Network
Thursday, March 9
Game 3: No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Florida – 1 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Tennessee – 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Game 5: No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Auburn – 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt – 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Friday, March 10
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 1 Alabama – 1 p.m. ET on ESPN
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 Missouri – 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 Texas A&M – 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. No. 3 Kentucky – 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Saturday, March 11
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 1 p.m. ET on ESPN
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner – 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
Sunday, March 12
SEC Tournament Championship Game: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner — noon ET on ESPN
*****
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @JNichols_2121, @ByNoahTaylor, @TylerIvens, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.