The 2019 SEC Tournament is just a few days away!

College basketball’s regular season is over, and now it’s time to see who’ll be cutting down the nets in Nashville, Tennessee. This week, from Wednesday-Sunday, the teams of the SEC will be tangled with one another to determine who’ll be known as SEC Tournament Champions.

The field this year features quite a few great teams, of course. But the #1 seed will have all the attention that it... probably wasn’t hoping for. The LSU Tigers won the regular season championship on Saturday night, but they have quite the dark cloud around them right now. Head coach Will Wade has been suspended indefinitely by the athletic department, as he is involved in the ongoing FBI sting operation, as it pertains to paying amateur athletes. JaVonte Smart was held out of action against Vanderbilt, as he appears to be the player whose recruitment is under concern.

Meanwhile, the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers should be expected to do big things. Based on how things fell, Kentucky is the 2 seed while Tennessee is the 3. So a matchup featuring two of the best and brightest in the conference this season can only happen in the semifinals based on tiebreakers. If that comes to pass, it should be fun to see play out, as both sides split their regular season meetings.

Teams like the Auburn Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs are pretty safe as it pertains to the NCAA Tournament. But clubs like the Arkansas Razorbacks, Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide will have to probably win at LEAST one game to boost their chances to dance. The South Carolina Gamecocks are the 4 seed, but considering their resume, they’d likely have to go auto-bid or bust. They do have wins over Florida, Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss and Arkansas this season. But their nonconference is so lacking that it’s almost irrelevant.

The longest of longshots are of course the four teams playing on Wednesday. The Georgia Bulldogs, Missouri Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies and Vanderbilt Commodores will need to conjure up some magic and win the whole dang thing if they want to go dancing. Vandy, in particular, is in their woes, as they went 0-18 in SEC play. Which is as remarkable as it is unfortunate.

BRACKET

secsports.com

SCHEDULE

(All times ET; games available via WatchESPN)

SECOND ROUND

Ole Miss vs. Alabama — 7 p.m., SEC Network
Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M/Vanderbilt — 9 p.m., SEC Network

QUARTERFINALS

LSU vs. Florida — 1 p.m., ESPN
South Carolina vs. Auburn — 3 p.m., ESPN
Kentucky vs. Alabama — 7 p.m., SEC Network
Tennessee vs. Mississippi State/Texas A&M — 9 p.m., SEC Network

SEMIFINALS

Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner — 1 p.m., ESPN
Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner — 3 p.m., ESPN

FINAL

Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner — 1 p.m., ESPN