SEC Tournament 2022: Tampa Schedule, Bracket and Storylines to Watch

Going into the 2022 SEC tournament, it's going to be all about Auburn.

The Tigers won the regular-season title with an 82-71 win over South Carolina on Saturday. Bruce Pearl's team will be the No. 1 seed as all 14 teams descend on Tampa, Florida, for a chance to cut down the nets on March 13.

Looking to take down the Tigers will be Arkansas Razorbacks, Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats, ranked Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

Outside of the top four teams, the Alabama Crimson Tide appear primed to be the team that comes in and steals the show. Only Kentucky has won more SEC Tournaments than Alabama.

The tourney begins Wednesday, with Missouri taking on Ole Miss and Vanderbilt taking on Georgia.

2022 SEC Tournament Schedule

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Wednesday, March 9, 1st Round

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, 2nd Round

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, Quarterfinals

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, Semifinals

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

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

Sunday, March 13, Championship Game

Championship Game (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

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

2022 SEC Tournament Bracket

Can Auburn Be Stopped?

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Coming into the SEC Tournament with the No. 1 seed, Auburn has to live up to expectations.

But that's something they have done all year.

The Tigers (27-4, 15-3 SEC) were close to having to share the regular-season title but took care of business on Saturday against South Carolina.

"To be 15-3 in this league says they came to play every night," Pearl told ESPN. "They really did. Now that is virtually impossible to do when you're dealing with 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids. Our kids came in to play every single night. They took no team for granted."

Led by freshman Jabari Smith, who averaged 17.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during the regular season, Auburn is looking to use the SEC tourney as a springboard to a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers will have to stay focused, though, because teams like Kentucky are primed to win it too.

The Wildcats have a top candidate for National Player of the Year in dominant big man Oscar Tshiebwe, who dropped a game-high 27 points in the 71-63 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday.

With the way Tshiebwe is playing, opponents will have to find a way to stop him from tallying double-doubles by halftime.

"The things that he's doing haven't been done for 50 years," Kentucky coach John Calipari told Jon Hale of the Louisville Courier-Journal. "So, how could you not [vote for him]?"

Kentucky's regular-season closer showcased their strengths as a team when they are jelling and put everyone on notice that they are a serious threat to the field in both the SEC and the Big Dance.

Alabama won the SEC Tournament in 2021 but finds itself coming in as a No. 6 seed after losing 80-77 to LSU on Saturday.

"It's tough. We've gotta regroup," Alabama coach Nate Oats told Matt Howe of 247Sports. "We've gotta figure out who we're gonna play. I have no idea who we're gonna play in the first round of the SEC Tournament. We've gotta get ourselves ready to play in the SEC Tournament now."

The Crimson Tide are a streaky team, so they should have no problem bouncing back from their two-game skid to close out the regular season to make some noise in the SEC tournament.

As for Tennessee, its best player, Kennedy Chandler, will delay any announcements about entering the NBA draft.

"I just want to continue to just get better every single day in practice," Chandler told Mike Wilson of the 
Knoxville News Sentinel. "Get ready for the SEC Tournament next week and get ready for March Madness. Continue to get wins. That decision that I'll make, whatever I want to do [will be when] the season is over."

That could mean that he's trying to go out on a high note, which means he will do everything in his power to propel the Volunteers to cutting down the nets.

Either way, this year's version of the SEC Tournament should be competitive, exciting and not easily forgotten.