SEC Tournament 2016: Nashville Schedule, Bracket and Storylines to Watch
On Saturday, the bracket and scheduled for the 2016 SEC tournament were finalized, and if the regular season were any indication, this will be a stretch of great matchups and intense conference play.
Texas A&M, which went 13-5 in conference play on the season, clinched the No.1 seed on Saturday.
Kentucky also went 13-5 in SEC matchups but lost in its head-to-head matchup with the Aggies in February, putting John Calipari's Wildcats at the No. 2 seed.
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Joining Texas A&M and Kentucky in the quarterfinals will be South Carolina and LSU as the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.
On Saturday, the SEC shared the bracket for the tournament, which begins on Wednesday, March 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET in Nashville, Tennessee.
Follow all the action and find out dates, times and TV information for your games using the tournament schedule below:
| March 9 | 7 p.m. | Game 1 - No. 12 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Auburn | SEC Network |
| March 10 | 1 p.m. | Game 2 - No. 8 Florida vs. No. 9 Arkansas | SEC Network |
| 25 mins after Game 2 | Game 3 - No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. Game 1 winner | SEC Network | |
| 7 p.m. | Game 4 - No. 10 Alabama vs. No. 7 Ole Miss | SEC Network | |
| 25 mins after Game 4 | Game 5 - No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 11 Mississippi State | SEC Network | |
| March 11 | 1 p.m. | Game 6 - No. 1 Texas A&M vs. Game 2 winner | SEC Network |
| 25 mins after Game 6 | Game 7 - No. 4 LSU vs. Game 3 winner | SEC Network | |
| 7 p.m. | Game 8 - No. 2 Kentucky vs. Game 4 winner | SEC Network | |
| 25 mins after Game 8 | Game 9 - No. 3 South Carolina vs. Game 5 winner | SEC Network | |
| March 12 | 1 p.m. | Game 10 - Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner | ESPN |
| 25 mins after Game 10 | Game 11 - Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner | ESPN | |
| March 13 | 1 p.m. | Game 12 - Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner | ESPN |
Storylines to Watch
Pressure is on for LSU Tigers
LSU freshman Ben Simmons, whose arrival this season led to high expectations for the program, is feeling frustrated after the team's 97-77 loss at the hands of the Wildcats.
As much, he's made a bold claim: The Tigers have to win the SEC tournament to make it into the NCAA tournament, per ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman.
The Tigers did not reach their lofty goals this season, finishing 18-13 overall and 11-7 in SEC play and entering the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Simmons and standout teammate Antonio Blakeney pointed to a lack of leadership as one of the reasons why the Tigers have underperformed this season.
"Leadership is a problem," Blakeney said Saturday, per Goodman. "A leader has to lead by example more than his mouth. This team has a lot of leading by talking and not by example."
Blakeney also said that "everybody wants to point the finger at each other."
The Tigers have some talent, but these types of locker room issues can take down a team early in a tournament. If LSU legitimately wants to contend for the SEC championship, it will need to become a cohesive unit quickly.
Kentucky Poised for Second Straight Conference Title
Calipari's Wildcats may have had to recalibrate entering the 2015-16 season, but the team is hitting its stride at exactly the right time heading into the SEC tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Even though the Wildcats fell to the Aggies in the two teams' only head-to-head meeting this season, it was a controversial loss due to Isaac Humphries' technical foul.
But now, Kentucky's backcourt is looking like the nation's best, featuring Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe.
Ulis ended the regular season in triumphant style against LSU on Saturday with a career-high 14 assists.
Kentucky isn't a sure thing by any means; the Aggies will continue to haunt them this postseason. And the two teams are well-matched; per ESPN.com, Kentucky is 11-6 against the RPI top 100, while Texas A&M is also 11-6 (and 4-0 against top 25 teams).
But Calipari's squad is talented enough to content with anyone in the NCAA tournament; they'll just have to play through the SEC first.
But Don't Sleep on Texas A&M
Don't get so excited about Kentucky's backcourt that you discount the real shot the Aggies have of winning the SEC title and advancing far into the NCAA tournament, however.
Heading into the SEC tournament as the No. 1 seed, Texas A&M is separating itself from the pack after finishing the regular season with six straight wins.
While Texas A&M may not have as many stars as Kentucky, the Aggies have a balanced roster and are playing good defense.
Plus, as Brandon Wheeland of SportsDay notes, Texas A&M is "the only Southeastern Conference team to head into the postseason with a winning record away from home."
That will be huge for them heading into Nashville next week.
The turnaround Billy Kennedy has been able to achieve with his program has been exciting to watch, and now the Aggies threaten to dethrone the Wildcats, coming for the SEC title with a vengeance.
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