SEC Tournament 2022: Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates, Live Stream Info

The SEC men's basketball regular season was controlled by four teams.

The Auburn Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats, Arkansas Razorbacks and Tennessee Volunteers all have national championship aspirations, and they should use the 2022 SEC tournament as preparation for deep runs in March.

Auburn won the regular-season title and sits on the same side of the bracket as Arkansas, which won 12 of its last 14 contests. Kentucky and Tennessee are on a collision course to face each other in the semifinals as part of the bottom half of the bracket.

The other 10 teams enter Tampa, Florida, with plenty of inconsistencies, and it is hard to imagine anyone outside of the top four cutting down the nets.

SEC tournament play begins Wednesday with two first-round games. The top four seeds do not enter until Friday's quarterfinal round.

SEC Tournament Bracket

Wednesday, March 9

No. 12 Missouri vs. No. 13 Ole Miss (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 11 Vanderbilt vs. No. 14 Georgia (8 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Thursday, March 10

No. 8 Texas A&M vs. No. 9 Florida (noon ET, SEC Network)

No. 5 LSU vs. Missouri/Ole Miss winner (2:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 7 South Carolina vs. No. 10 Mississippi State (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 6 Alabama vs. Vanderbilt/Georgia winner (9:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Friday, March 11

No. 1 Auburn vs. Texas A&M/Florida winner (noon ET, ESPN)

No. 4 Arkansas vs. LSU vs. Missouri/Ole Miss winner (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

No. 2 Tennessee vs. South Carolina/Mississippi State winner (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 3 Kentucky vs. Alabama vs. Vanderbilt/Georgia winner (8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Saturday, March 12

Semifinal No. 1 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Semifinal No. 2 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Sunday, March 13

Championship Game (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

All games can be live-streamed on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.

Storylines

Auburn Looking to Reverse Form Away from Home

Auburn comes into the SEC tournament with a bit to prove.

The regular-season champion experienced some hiccups away from home over the last few weeks. Bruce Pearl's side fell on the road to Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee and needed overtime to beat Mississippi State.

Auburn looked much better at home during that stretch, recording four wins by 10 or more points, including a 82-71 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Tigers do not have any games left inside Auburn Arena and need to use the SEC tournament as an opportunity to erase their road blues.

Auburn can also use the SEC tournament as a vehicle to cement a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

The Tigers are in the mix with a handful of other top programs and could seal that spot with a championship run in Tampa.

Auburn likely needs to get by two of Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee to achieve that feat. Two wins over that collection of teams would likely be enough to match up the Tigers' resume against any of the other potential No. 1 seeds.

A semifinal loss to Arkansas would cast a few doubts over the Tigers' form away from home, and it may drop them to the No. 2 seed line on Selection Sunday.

Long Shot Teams Face Tough Road Past Semifinals

Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas all finished with at least 13 regular-season wins in SEC play.

The next four programs in the SEC standings concluded regular-season play with 9-9 records, including LSU and Alabama.

The Tigers and Crimson Tide are the top two contenders to unsettle the top four in Tampa, but it will be difficult. LSU lost to each of the top four seeds, and Alabama suffered two defeats against Kentucky and Auburn. The Crimson Tide beat Tennessee and Arkansas, but the win over the Vols occurred in late December.

Florida might be the most intriguing team entering play before Friday. The Gators were listed as one of the "Next Four Out" by ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

The Gators will have a shot at Auburn if they win their opening game versus Texas A&M. Auburn is the only top-four SEC squad the Gators beat in the regular season.

A Cinderella story in Tampa would be nice to see, but it is hard to imagine that given how many losses were suffered against the four best squads.