SEC Tournament 2017: Nashville Schedule, Bracket and Storylines to Watch

It's Kentucky and then everyone else in the 2017 SEC men's basketball tournament.

The Wildcats went 16-2 in conference play, led by three freshmen (guard Malik Monk, guard De'Aaron Fox and forward Bam Adebayo) and a sophomore (guard Isaiah Briscoe).

They'll all play in the NBA someday, but for now, they are looking to be the 31st conference tournament champion and ninth NCAA tournament champion in school history.

Although UK is a cut above the rest in the SEC this season, three teams are all but secured at-large bids to March Madness (Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas) with a fourth (Vanderbilt) likely joining them after the Commodores beat the Gators on Saturday.

Here's a look at the SEC tournament schedule, bracket and three storylines to watch this week.

Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Round	Matchup	Television
Wednesday, March 8	7 p.m.	1	First	No. 13 LSU vs. No. 12 Mississippi Sate	SEC Network
Wednesday, March 8	25 minutes after Game 1	2	First	No. 14 Missouri vs. No. 11 Auburn	SEC Network
Thursday, March 9	1 p.m.	3	Second	No. 9 Tennessee vs. No. 8 Georgia	SEC Network
Thursday, March 9	25 minutes after Game 3	4	Second	Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Alabama	SEC Network
Thursday, March 9	7 p.m.	5	Second	No. 10 Texas A&M vs. No. 7 Vanderbilt	SEC Network
Thursday, March 9	25 minutes after Game 5	6	Second	Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 Ole Miss	SEC Network
Friday, March 10	1 p.m.	7	Quarterfinals	Game 3 winner vs. No. 1 Kentucky	SEC Network
Friday, March 10	25 minutes after Game 8	8	Quarterfinals	Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 South Carolina	SEC Network
Friday, March 10	7 p.m.	9	Quarterfinals	Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 Florida	SEC Network
Friday, March 10	25 minutes after Game 9	10	Quarterfinals	Game 6 winner vs. No. 3 Arkansas	SEC Network
Saturday, March 11	1 p.m.	11	Semifinals	Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner	ESPN
Saturday, March 11	25 minutes after Game 11	12	Semifinals	Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner	ESPN
Sunday, March 12	1 p.m.	13	Finals	Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner	ESPN

Bracket

Storylines

1. Can Vanderbilt Make a Run to the SEC Title Game?

Three weeks can make one heck of a difference.

On February 11, Vanderbilt lost to Missouri, 72-52. In previous years, a loss in Columbia wouldn't hurt as bad, but the sting felt worse this year because the Tigers just struggled through a 2-16 conference campaign, which tied them with LSU for last in the SEC.

That loss dropped Vanderbilt to a 12-13 overall record. Things were looking bleak in Nashville, but Vandy bounced back strong to end the regular season, winning five of its last six games, including the aforementioned victory against the Gators. Its only loss in that stretch was a close 73-67 defeat at Kentucky that Vanderbilt was winning by 13 early in the second half.

Vandy has played tough opponents and won this season, as SEC columnist Kyle Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted:

Vanderbilt matches up with Texas A&M, who the Commodores beat 68-54 this season, in the second round. If Vandy wins again, then it will match up with Florida again in what should be another great game.

Ultimately, the Commodores are a very dangerous team that could make a run to the SEC Championship.

2. Can South Carolina Get It Together in the SEC Tournament?

USC started the regular season with eight straight wins and was sitting with a 19-4 regular-season record (including 9-1 in the SEC) in early February, highlighted by victories over Michigan, Florida and Syracuse.

However, a four-overtime loss to Alabama started a tailspin, and the Gamecocks finished the regular season with a 3-5 stretch.

In fairness to South Carolina, it didn't lose to any bad teams. All of the losses occurred against squads who earned at least a top-seven seed in the SEC tournament. 

That being said, losing five of eight isn't ideal, especially at this time of year, so the Gamecocks need to find a way to right the ship.

They'll likely need senior guard Sindarius Thornwell to be Superman again. Check out these stats via South Carolina men's basketball Twitter account:

For the record, Thornwell needed literally one more point in SEC play to win the conference scoring title:

USC is assured of an NCAA tournament berth at this point, but it is looking to gain some positive momentum going into March Madness.

3. How Will Kentucky's Underclassmen Fare in March?

Since John Calipari took over the University of Kentucky program in 2009, the Wildcats have made the Elite Eight five times, the Final Four four times and the national championship twice, winning it once behind Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in 2012.

This team doesn't measure up to the 2012 squad, but UK has three players (Fox, Monk and Adebayo) projected to go in the first round of this summer's NBA draft, per DraftExpress, with Fox and Monk going in the top 10.

As mentioned before, Monk was the leading scorer in the SEC this year. He even did something that no Kentucky freshman has ever done before:

Fox averages 15.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.2 boards per game. He can pretty much do it all, except shoot from the outside (only 21.1 percent from deep). That being said, he's hit four of his last seven from three-point land in his last three games, so maybe Fox will continue that success into the postseason.

As good as Fox and Monk are, Adebayo might be playing the best of the three right now. He posted back-to-back 15-rebound games against Missouri and Florida two weeks ago and has shot no worse than 60 percent from the field in each of his last six games.

Finally, Briscoe is a bit like Fox, in that he can fill up the stat sheet. He's accumulated at least six points, six rebounds and six assists in his last two games and averages 12.9 points, 5.6 boards and 4.4 assists this year.

UK is only one of two teams to rank in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive efficiency per the Ken Pomeroy College Basketball Rankings. Given the Wildcats' proficiency on both ends of the floor, their depth and elite NBA-level talent, UK has to be considered one of the top contenders for the national championship and the heavy favorite for the SEC title.