Where the Vols and Lady Vols Stand in SEC Tournament Seeding

A look at where the Vols and Lady Vols stand in SEC Tournament Standings.

The Lady Vols officially finished their regular season on Sunday in their loss to LSU, and the Vols conclude their regular season this Saturday against Arkansas in Thompson-Boling Arena.

Both Tennessee squads have been among the best in the SEC, with the Vols steadily climbing as SEC play has progressed and the Lady Vols steadily falling.

Recently, Rick Barnes' BasketVols knocked off No. 3 Auburn in Knoxville, backed by complete team performance and a raucous Thompson-Boling Arena crowd. Combined with an Arkansas win over Kentucky, the win created a three-way tie for second place in the SEC, one game behind Auburn.

With two games left for all of the top four SEC teams, Tennessee can still claim the top seed in the SEC Tournament and share the regular-season SEC title. The path is simple, but the Vols will need a little help.

Here's what has to happen for the Vols to co-win the regular-season SEC title and become the No. 1 seed in Tampa Bay:

-Tennessee wins out (beats Georgia, Arkansas)

-Auburn loses to either Mississippi State or South Carolina

If those things happen, Arkansas would fall one full game behind UT and be out of the picture. Tennessee and Auburn would tie at a 14-4 SEC record, but the tiebreaker is head-to-head, which UT holds. If Kentucky wins out against Ole Miss and Florida, the Wildcats will create a three-way tie at the top. The Vols and Kentucky split their regular-season games, but the next tiebreaker is the team's record against the highest remaining seed (Auburn). Tennessee is 1-0 against Auburn, and Kentucky is 0-1.

Therefore, since Tennessee would hold the tiebreaker over Auburn and Kentucky, the Vols would clinch the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament and share the regular-season SEC title with Auburn and Kentucky. It would be the first time the Vols had won the regular-season title since they shared it with Auburn in 2018. If Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee all finish 14-4 in the conference, it would be the first three-way tie for the regular-season title in league history. The SEC's inaugural season was 1932-1933.

And looking at Auburn's game against Mississippi State, there's a realistic possibility the Tigers fall in Starkville. The Bulldogs are 7-1 at home in conference play, with their lone loss coming to Tennessee. Mississippi State has knocked off the likes of Arkansas, Alabama and South Carolina in Humphrey Coliseum.

The Tigers and Bulldogs will tip-off in Starkville on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. ET.

If Auburn beats Mississippi State, the Vols will need South Carolina to pull off a significant upset in Auburn on Saturday afternoon.

The men's SEC Tournament is Wednesday, March 9, through Sunday, March 13, at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida. Tennessee has officially clinched a double-bye in the tournament with their win over Auburn. Therefore, the Vols' first game in the tournament will be Friday, March 11.

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As for the Lady Vols, their situation is a lot simpler to grasp, as their season is over.

Tennessee finished the regular season as the No. 3 seed in the SEC, with South Carolina claiming sole possession of No. 1 and winning the regular-season title. After LSU became the first SEC team to defeat Tennessee in Thompson-Boling Arena this season, the Tigers finished at No. 2 in the SEC, two games behind South Carolina and two games ahead of UT.

The women's SEC Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 2, and goes through Sunday, March 6, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Since Tennessee has achieved a double-bye with their third overall seed, the Lady Vols' first game will occur on Friday, March 4 (25 minutes after the 6:00 p.m. ET game).

Tennessee will likely take on No. 6 Georgia on Friday, as the Lady Bulldogs will take on the winner of No. 14 Auburn vs. No. 11 Alabama on Thursday night.

If Tennessee were to get past Alabama, Auburn or Georgia, the Lady Vols would likely face LSU in the semifinals, assuming the Tigers don't run into any problems against No. 7 Kentucky or No. 10 Mississippi State.

The Lady Vols have now had back-to-back season finishing third in the conference, and after winning 15 regular-season SEC titles, Tennessee has gone on a seven-year drought of claiming the top spot. This weekend, the Lady Vols will be looking for their 18th SEC Tournament Championship and first in eight years. 

"I think when you hit postseason, there's a renewal of energy," Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper said. "I think that's for every coach in the country. When they play their last game, the new record is 0-0, clean slate. It's not 100% accurate because everything you've learned has built you to this point. There's an excitement around tournament time, and if you don't enjoy that, and you don't love the tournament, this is not the sport for you, because it's that's what we do. It's a buildup. We're a tournament sport. Everything you're doing is part of the journey. You can't just fast forward through the tournament, this is part of it. This is a big piece. The tournament, whether it's the SEC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament, it's a big piece of what we're doing."

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