SEC Basketball Tourney Bracket

Trevor Releford shot Alabama into the double-bye portion of the Southeastern Conference Tournament bracket. While the bottom four teams begin play Wednesday, the Crimson Tide waits until the third round on Friday.

Alabama’s dramatic 61-58 win over Georgia as Trevor Releford drained a 50-foot desperation buzzer-beater in Coleman Coliseum Saturday means that the Crimson Tide’s first game will tip off at 2:30 p.m. CDT (remember -- Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday, so set your clocks forward) Friday.

Alabama got an assist from Tennessee Saturday to get into the tournament as the number four seed. The top four seeds – No. 1 and SEC regular season champion Florida, along with three teams that tied for second: No. 2 seed Kentucky, No. 3 seed Ole Miss, and Alabama, all with 12-6 conference records – earn the double bye in the new 14-team tournament.

Tennessee came from behind and defeated Missouri. With a win Mizzou would have earned the fourth seed.

Now it is likely Bama will play Tennessee on Friday. The Vols, the fifth seed, will play the winner of No. 12 seed South Carolina and No. 13 seed Mississippi State. The bottom four teams all play Wednesday, then play teams with one bye.

The tournament will be in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and runs through the championship game on Sunday, March 17.

This will be the fourth time that the arena has served as the host of the SEC_Tournament, having also hosted in 2001, 2006 and 2010. Also the home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Bridgestone Arena has the distinction of being one of the busiest venues in the Unites States over the past decade and a half, hosting more than 18 million guests during that time. Seating capacity is approximately 18,160 for basketball games.

The winner of the 13-game tournament receives the SEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament seeds are determined by the 18-game conference schedule during the regular season. Teams are seeded 1-14 based on their regular season conference finish.

Here is the schedule:

FIRST ROUND - March 13 (Wednesday)

Game 1 #12 South Carolina vs. #13 Mississippi State [SEC_Network] 6:30 p.m. CT

Game 2 #11 Texas A&M_vs. #14 Auburn [SEC_Network] 9 p.m. CT

SECOND ROUND - March 14 (Thursday)

Game 3 #8 Georgia vs. #9 LSU [SEC_Network] Noon CT

Game 4 Game 1 Winner vs. #5 Tennessee [SEC_Network] 2:30 p.m. CT

Game 5 #7 Arkansas vs. #10 Vanderbilt [SEC_Network] 6:30 p.m. CT

Game 6 Game 2 Winner vs. #6 Missouri [SEC_Network] 9 p.m. CT

QUARTERFINALS - March 15 (Friday

Game 7 Game 3 Winner vs. #1 Florida [ESPNU] Noon CT

Game 8 Game 4 Winner vs. #4 Alabama [ESPNU] 2:30 p.m. CT

Game 9 Game 5 Winner vs. #2 Kentucky [SEC_Network/ESPNU] 6:30 p.m. CT

Game 10 Game 6 Winner vs. #3 Ole Miss [SEC_Network/ESPNU] 9 p.m. CT

SEMIFINALS - March 16 (Saturday)

Game 11 Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner [ABC] Noon CT

Game 12 Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner [ABC] 2:30 p.m. CT

FINALS - March 17 (Sunday)

Game 13 Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner [ABC] Noon CT

A limited number of reserved books for the 2013 Southeastern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament are on sale through www.SECsports.com. Several institutions have released additional tickets to the general public. Fans can log onto the ticket page of www.SECsports.com and follow the links to the institutions’ websites for purchase.

Additionally, tickets for Session One of the tournament are currently on sale for $15 each and are valid for 300-Level general admission seating only.