SEC Tournament 2016: Quarterfinals Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions

The second round of the SEC tournament already gave us a little taste of the madness that comes with March. The quarterfinal round shapes up to provide the stage for a few more upsets as teams look to make a last impression heading into the NCAA tournament. 

Vanderbilt was the first team to get shocked in tourney play. The Commodores had the second-best odds to win the tournament heading into the week, per Odds Shark. No one told Tennessee, though. The Volunteers beat the Commodores in a 67-65 nail-biter. 

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports believes the loss will ultimately keep Vanderbilt out of the tournament in his latest bubble watch, and at the very least, it's going to be a long wait until Selection Sunday for the squad. 

Some teams still have time to improve their prospects for the tournament, though. Florida kept its withering postseason hopes alive with a win over Arkansas, and the Gators now have a great opportunity to improve their resume against No. 1 seed Texas A&M in the first quarterfinal of the day. 

Here's the entire schedule for the quarterfinal round along with predictions for each matchup and the key storylines heading into Friday's action. 

Matchup	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 8 Florida	1 p.m.	SECN	Texas A&M
No. 12 Tennessee vs. No. 4 LSU	3 p.m.	SECN	LSU
No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Alabama	7 p.m.	SECN	Kentucky
No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 3 South Carolina	9 p.m.	SECN	Georgia

Full bracket can be found at SEC Sports. Live stream available at WatchESPN.

Will Texas A&M Live up to First-Seed Billing?

Sam Craft/Associated Press

The SEC has been a league defined by parity this season. No one finished with fewer than five losses, and the top five teams were only separated by two games at the end of the season. 

The Aggies earned the top seed by virtue of being one of the few teams with a winning conference record away from home this season. An experienced core of players and a great coaching job by Billy Kennedy have given them a slight advantage in the SEC war of attrition. 

Going into Friday, Palm's projected bracket has Texas A&M as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. An SEC championship run could potentially move it all the way up to a No. 3 seed. 

Getting there won't be easy, though. The Aggies will take on a Florida team whose NCAA chances recently received a slight bump with Vanderbilt's loss to Tennessee. Gators coach Mike White and his team know the stakes are high when they take on A&M, per Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal:

"

It’s a one-game season for us right now. We’re one of those many teams on the bubble that people are looking at, people are writing about. But at the end of the day, it’s the people in that room that make those decision, and any win we get at this point helps us and any loss hurts us.

"

Florida has already proved that it can be competitive with the No. 1 seed. In January, the Gators fought to a 71-68 loss against the Aggies. 

No one has been hotter in the SEC than Texas A&M. It brought a six-game win streak into the postseason and has the motivation of improving its tournament seeding. However, Florida is a team in desperation mode. Its chances of survival hinge on beating A&M, and that should make the first game of the day intriguing. 

Can Ben Simmons Lead LSU on a Tournament Run?

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Ben Simmons is a curious case. There's little doubt that he's one of the most talented players in college basketball. Yet there's a good chance he won't be involved in the Big Dance. 

That's because LSU just hasn't figured it out this season. While Simmons has showed he can stuff a stat sheet, the Tigers are just the fourth seed with an 11-7 conference record that includes a 3-8 mark on the road.

According to Chad Ford of ESPN, scouts would like to see Simmons show that he can take over a game:

"

Ben Simmons and the NBA draft prospects with the most to prove this week @chadfordinsider https://t.co/iQ1pPndfnw pic.twitter.com/xm0hWSusvP

— ESPN Insider (@ESPNInsider) March 9, 2016"

His opportunities to do so are waning. With LSU's pedestrian resume, the chances of an at-large bid are fairly nonexistent, and the conference tournament is his opportunity to shine in a high-stakes atmosphere.

That can start with avenging one of the Tigers' losses to Tennessee this season. The Vols beat the Tigers in late February in a game in which Simmons committed eight turnovers after starting the game on the bench.

This isn't a game that will feature a lot of defense. Tennessee is 191st in defensive efficiency, while LSU is 218th in the category.  

That should provide Simmons with the stage to both put up gaudy numbers and lead his team to a big win. 

Can Alabama Upset Kentucky?

Kentucky might be the favorite, but it faces a live underdog in Alabama. As the SEC Network pointed out, Avery Johnson has turned the Crimson Tide into a team that's capable of playing with top squads on a given night. 

Unfortunately for Bama, none of those nights have come against the Wildcats. Kentucky dominated both regular-season matches and accounted for two of their three losses to Top 25-ranked opponents. 

Johnson attributed the Tide's second loss to the Wildcats to a lack of confidence. 

"Overall, we just didn't have the energy or confidence we had in SEC play," the first-year coach said, per ESPN.com. "We just didn't have it. This was probably our worst performance in the SEC."

Confidence might not be as big an issue this time around. The Tide are coming off a solid win against Ole Miss in Round 2 of tournament play where they shot 12-of-24 from three-point range. That doesn't deviate far from where Alabama has been as a shooting team this season. 

It comes as no surprise that Johnson's team is best when it is taking and making long-distance shots. It is 29th in the nation in three-point rate. 

Kentucky is obviously the easy pick here. The Wildcats are loaded with talent and don't have to shoot lights-out to get the win. 

Johnson has proven his run as the Alabama head coach will make the Tide more interesting, but upsetting Kentucky will take a nearly perfect shooting night. 

It's more realistic to think that Kentucky's defense throws off the rhythm of Bama and continues its pursuit of an SEC title. 

All statistics via TeamRankings.com unless otherwise noted.