SEC Tournament 2018: St. Louis Schedule, Bracket and Storylines to Watch

The SEC tournament has the potential to be the most entertaining conference championship in men's basketball due to the instability displayed by many teams over the course of the regular season.

Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky have byes into the quarterfinals, but they won't be the main focus of the tournament, as an array of teams seeded between fifth and ninth are fighting to either maintain their position in the NCAA men's basketball tournament or get off the bubble before Selection Sunday.

The action in St. Louis begins Wednesday with a pair of first-round games, but the real drama begins Thursday, when the teams jockeying for spots in the Big Dance take the floor for the first time.

Kentucky is the three-time defending champion of the SEC tournament, but its throne appears to be under attack with the volatility that occurred during the last two months.

Bracket

SEC Tournament Schedule (All Times ET)

Wednesday, March 7

No. 12 Georgia vs. No. 13 Vanderbilt (7 p.m., SEC Network)

No. 11 South Carolina vs. No. 14 Ole Miss (approximately 9:30 p.m., SEC Network)

Thursday, March 8

No. 8 Texas A&M vs. No. 9 Alabama (1 p.m., SEC Network)

No. 5 Missouri vs. No. 12 seed or No. 13 seed (approximately 3:30 p.m., SEC Network)

No. 10 LSU vs. No. 7 Mississippi State (7 p.m., SEC Network)

No. 6 Arkansas vs. No. 11 seed or No. 14 seed (approximately 9:30 p.m., SEC Network)

Friday, March 9

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed winner (1 p.m., ESPN)

No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 seed or. No. 12 or No. 13 seed winner (approximately 3:30 p.m., ESPN)

No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 10 seed or No. 7 seed winner (7 p.m., SEC Network)

No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 seed or No. 11 or No. 14 winner (approximately 9:30 p.m., SEC Network)

Saturday, March 10

Winner of No. 1 seed's quarterfinal vs. winner of No. 4 seed's quarterfinal (1 p.m., ESPN)

Winner of No. 2 seed's quarterfinal vs. winner of No. 3 seed's quarterfinal (approximately 3:30 p.m., ESPN)

Sunday, March 11

Winner of semifinal No. 1 vs. winner of semifinal No. 2 (1 p.m., ESPN)

*WatchESPN will live-stream all games.

Storylines to Watch

Auburn, Tennessee Looking to End SEC Tournament Title Droughts 

Auburn and Tennessee have been major players in SEC football for a while, but it's rare to see both relevant in men's basketball.

Experienced coaches Bruce Pearl and Rick Barnes guided their respective teams to first and second in the regular-season standings, and both are trying to end long SEC tournament title droughts.

Tennessee, who enters as the No. 2 seed, hasn't captured the crown since 1979, while top-seeded Auburn's drought dates back to 1985.

In order to reach the SEC tournament final, the Tigers and Volunteers must defeat a perennial favorite in the semifinals.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Kentucky is in Auburn's part of the bracket, while Florida resides on Tennessee's side, and both the Wildcats and Gators have title aspirations of their own.

Auburn needs a few wins in St. Louis to erase the memory of a poor finish that featured three losses in its final five regular-season games.

Tennessee experienced a different fate, as it earned the No. 2 seed by reeling off four straight victories.

Crystal LoGiudice/Associated Press

While a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament may be a bit out of reach given each team's resume, there's a good chance the SEC tournament champion, if it's Auburn or Tennessee, receives a No. 3 seed.

If Auburn or Tennessee come out victorious, they would be fifth different school to win the SEC tournament since 2010.

Texas A&M Trying to Bounce Back From Tumultuous Time in Conference Play 

At the start of the season, Texas A&M was expected to be one of the top contenders in the SEC.

However once the Aggies hit conference play, their season went south, as they lost their first five SEC games.

Since their poor start to SEC competition, the Aggies have turned into the one of the streakiest teams in men's basketball, as they have winning runs of two, three and four games and skids of two, three and five.

The Aggies are on the upswing entering St. Louis, as they picked up wins over Vanderbilt, Georgia and Alabama to close out the regular season.

L.G. Patterson/Associated Press

As the No. 8 seed, Texas A&M opens against an Alabama team it defeated by two points Saturday in College Station, Texas.

It's going to be difficult for the Aggies to beat the same team twice in a week, especially with Alabama fighting for its NCAA tournament life.

In order to set up a meeting with Auburn in the quarterfinals, the Aggies need similar contributions from Tyler Davis and Admon Gilder that they received Saturday, as the pair combined for 34 points and Davis earned a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.