The postseason is right around the corner for men’s college basketball.
This means the SEC tournament, arguably the best conference in America this year, is close to kicking off in Nashville next week.
Format of the SEC Tournament
How the tournament works is pretty simple.
The SEC has 16 teams, which means that the top four will receive a double bye all the way to the quarterfinals. With one game left in the regular season, the Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Tennessee Volunteers are each set to have a bye.
This means that the four bottom teams in the conference have to play in the first round of the tournament. Currently, the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, LSU Tigers, and South Carolina Gamecocks would all have to take the court in the first round of the tournament.
This is a single-elimination tournament that will have high stakes in every matchup.
The SEC Has Been Tightly Contested
Again, the SEC is likely the country’s best conference.
By the looks of it, at least 14 teams in the conference have at least 17 wins overall in the regular season. Additionally, eight teams have a winning record in the conference.
What is also fascinating is that three teams each have a conference record of 10-7 and an overall mark of 21-9 (Missouri, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M). The tiebreaker between those teams would come down to who has the best winning percentage among the tied teams.
Then, if that tiebreaker does not work, it would come down to who has the best winning percentage against the No. 1 seed.
In a less complex situation, if two teams are tied, the tiebreaker goes to who has the better record against each other.
KEEP READING: ‘This Team Deserves a Championship’ — Bruce Pearl’s Pregame Speech Fires Up Auburn
If that fails, the tiebreaker would be who has a better record against the No. 1 seed.
The commissioner can determine the outcome in both situations with a coin flip. If the original tiebreakers do not give teams an answer in the short term, the coin flip could determine seeding.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, basketball, and more!
