With the regular season coming to a close, the bracket for the 2022 SEC Tournament has been set, and Auburn basketball sits at the top. After securing the regular-season SEC title this weekend following a win over the South Carolina Gamecocks in Neville Arena, the Tigers will be heading to Tampa, Florida, as the #1 seed in the tournament.
The first round begins on Wednesday, March 9 with a matchup between #13 Ole Miss and #12 Missouri followed by #14 Georgia and #11 Vanderbilt in game 2. The second round contains four games with #9 Florida vs. #8 Texas A&M, #10 Mississippi State facing #7 South Carolina, the winner of Ole Miss vs. Missouri taking on #5 LSU, and the winner Georgia vs. Vanderbilt going up against #6 Alabama.
The #1 Auburn basketball team doesn’t enter the fray until day three, where they will face the winner of the Florida-Texas A&M matchup at 11:00 a.m. on Friday.
The 2022 SEC Tournament Bracket. pic.twitter.com/658Ln98Me3
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 6, 2022
While the tournament is normally played in Nashville, this year’s venue will be Amalie Arena in Tampa, where the Tigers beat the University of South Florida earlier this season. Not only will the team be comfortable in the venue, but they’ve also secured wins over the two teams they could face in their first game.
Auburn basketball played Texas A&M only once this season in Neville Arena on February 12, dominating the Aggies for a strong 75-58 win in the 2022 AUTLIVE Cancer game. However, the Tigers faced the Florida Gators both at home and on the road, and while they had strong showings in both games they only managed to pull off the home win on January 8 with an 85-73 final score.
On the road in Gainesville on February 19 the Tigers took one of their toughest losses of the season, ending things at 63-62 in a hostile O’Connell Center. If Florida wins over Texas A&M in round two, the Tigers will have their chance to exact revenge at a neutral site on March 11.