Another college basketball postseason has arrived. Kentucky’s March run will once again begin at the SEC Tournament. The Wildcats find themselves in an unfamiliar place this year in Nashville. This is going to be different.
Kentucky will start this year’s conference tournament as the No. 9 seed. This is the lowest seed for the program since the SEC broke away from a division structure in 2012. Thanks to recent conference expansion, this tournament now runs for five days and begins on Wednesday. UK will be forced to start on day one. This is going to be strange for everyone involved.
The Wildcats will need to win five games in five days to claim the program’s 32nd SEC Tournament championship. To do that, they will have to do something no other team in this conference has done yet.
How likely is it for Kentucky to advance far into this tournament? We have 13 years of data to tell us how teams placed in the No. 9 slot have faired in this tournament. This will be only the second year where the No. 9 seed has had to play on Wednesday due to the league’s recent expansion to 16 teams. The overall record is not great and advancing is difficult due to the matchup with the No. 1 seed looming in the quarterfinals.
No. 9 seed in SEC Tournament since 2012
2012
No. 8 LSU 70, No. 9 Arkansas 54
2013
No. 9 LSU 68, No. 8 Georgia 63
No. 1 Florida 80, No. 9 LSU 58
2014
No. 8 Missouri 91, No. 9 Texas A&M 83 (OT)
2015
No. 8 Florida 69, No. 9 Alabama 61
2016
No. 8 Florida 68, No. 9 Arkansas 61
2017
No. 8 Georgia 59, No. 9 Tennessee 57
2018
No. 9 Alabama 71, No. 8 Texas A&M 70
No. 9 Alabama 81, No. 1 Auburn 63
No. 4 Kentucky 86, No. 9 Alabama 63
2019
No. 8 Florida 66, No. 9 Arkansas 50
2021
No. 9 Mississippi State 74, No. 8 Kentucky 73
No. 1 Alabama 85, No. 9 Mississippi State 48
2022
No. 8 Texas A&M 83, No. 9 Florida (OT)
2023
No. 9 Mississippi State 69, No. 8 Florida 68 (OT)
No. 1 Alabama 72, No. 9 Mississippi State 49
2024
No. 9 Mississippi State 70, No. 8 LSU 60
No. 9 Mississippi State 73, No. 1 Tennessee 56
No. 4 Auburn 73, No. 9 Mississippi State 66
2025
No. 9 Arkansas 72, No. 16 South Carolina 68
No. 8 Ole Miss 83, No. 9 Arkansas 80
Since the SEC changed its tournament formant to best overall for team placement, the No. 9 seed is 9-13 overall. This seed has only made the semifinals twice (2018, 2024) and has never made it to the championship game on Sunday. When the No. 9 does advance to Friday, those teams are 2-4 outright against No. 1 seeds.
Kentucky has only played in the 8-9 game once. Mississippi State won a thriller after blowing a 15-point lead. Lead guard Iverson Molinar scored eight points in the final three minutes. Now Kentucky is just a win versus LSU away from playing in this game again.
The No. 9 seed is a true coin flip (6-7) against the No. 8 seed but has had some limited success when playing the No. 1 seed.
SEC Tournament titles
Kentucky has won 31 SEC Tournament titles. The rest of the current SEC members have combined to win 33 SEC Tournament titles. UK is looking for its first crown since 2018. Alabama (2021, 2023) and Auburn (2019, 2024) have each won two over the last six tournaments.
Florida will be the favorite this weekend. The Gators are searching for a sixth SEC Tournament title. This is the only school to repeat (2005-07) outside of Kentucky since 1991.
Kentucky311933, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018Alabama81934, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2021, 2023Tennessee51936, 1941, 1943, 1979, 2022Florida52005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2025Auburn31985, 2019, 2024Mississippi State31996, 2002, 2009Ole Miss21981, 2013Vanderbilt21951, 2012Georgia21983, 2008Arkansas12000LSU11980Georgia Tech11938