SEC Basketball 2019 Tournament Preview: Times, Channels, Games

The SEC tends to dominate things in terms of football. Schools like Alabama, Texas A&M, and Auburn churn out national title teams and NFL prospects. However, they’re competing in basketball now too. Institutes throughout the SEC are building NBA-ready players and putting on a show each time teams face off on the court. Tennessee, LSU, and a few other squads are expected to vie for the conference title at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee in the SEC basketball tournament.

SEC Tournament 2019 Schedule

The first round of games will take place on Wednesday (March 13).  Missouri plays Georgia at 6 p.m. EST and Vanderbilt will play Texas A&M at about 8:30 p.m. Things move quick. Then on Thursday, the second round kicks off. Quarterfinals begin on Friday with the top four seeds playing the second-round winners.

Here’s the schedule for Friday: LSU will play at noon against the Arkansas-Florida winner. South Carolina will play at 2:30 p.m. EST against a random seed. Kentucky will play at 6 p.m. against the Alabama-Ole Miss winner. Tennessee will play about 8:30 p.m. against a random seed as well.

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What makes the tournament so interesting is that it lacks a clear-cut favorite. No. 1 seed LSU, No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 3 seed Tennessee could all make a case for themselves. LSU had beat both Kentucky and Tennessee this season. Kentucky and Tennessee can both point to the fact that they’re fighting for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament because of their strong play out of the conference and split records against each other. And Kentucky can also point to the fact that it’s won four straight SEC Tournament titles.

However, LSU coach Will Wade won’t coach the squad. He’s been suspended indefinitely after cheating allegations that started with an FBI wiretap. The school is looking for its first SEC tourney title since 1980 but losing the coach and potentially their best player is a huge blow. Regardless, with up to eight teams being seeded for the NCAA Tournament, it looks to be an exciting event.