NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Kentucky men’s basketball team will be the No. 3 seed in the annual Southeastern Conference Tournament when action begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wildcats, who earned the coveted double bye (automatically advancing to the quarterfinals), will play the winner between Vanderbilt and the winner of 14-seeded LSU and 11-seeded Georgia, on Friday in Nashville at approximately 9 p.m. ET.
Kentucky completed its 2022-23 regular season on Saturday with an impressive victory over Arkansas on the road behind 37 points from Antonio Reeves. The Cats concluded the season with a 21-10 overall record and 12-6 mark in the SEC. UK eclipsed a 20-win season for an NCAA-leading 66th time this season.
The Wildcats are seeking their seventh SEC Tournament championship under head coach John Calipari and 32nd overall. UK will need two wins to advance to its ninth SEC Tournament title game in the last 13 tournaments played.
UK’s quarterfinal SEC Tournament game will be televised by SEC Network with Tom Hart, Dane Bradshaw and Alyssa Lang on the call. If Kentucky wins Friday, it would play Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. Sunday’s championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. The semifinals game will be televised on ESPN with Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Marty Smith calling the action. The championship game on ESPN is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday with Ravech, Dick Vitale and Smith on the mic.
Kentucky leads the league with 31 SEC Tournament titles. The Wildcats are 135-28 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 46-11 in the quarterfinals.
Calipari’s teams at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky have been to 19 conference championship games, winning a remarkable 15 of them. Calipari is 58-14 (.806) all-time in conference tournaments, including 24-6 (.800) at UK. Calipari ranks third in SEC Tournament wins.
The Wildcats are 5-5 all-time against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament, but 4-2 against the Commodores in the quarterfinals. UK and Vanderbilt met just last season in the quarters with the Cats earning a 77-71 victory. The teams split their matchups during the regular-season with each visiting team claiming the victory.
Kentucky is 12-1 all-time against Georgia in the SEC Tournament and 16-2 against LSU. UK is 6-1 against the Bulldogs in quarterfinals matchups and 5-1 against LSU.
Also on Kentucky’s side of the bracket is No. 2 seed Texas A&M, No. 7 seed Auburn and No. 10 seed Arkansas.
