path to 2022 SEC Tournament title is set

[aubiefifty 18,238]

Auburn’s path to 2022 SEC Tournament title is set after bracket reveal

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

3 minutes

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Auburn basketball wins outright SEC title, completes perfect home record

Auburn closed out its regular-season campaign by cutting down the nets at Neville Arena, an outright SEC championship in hand. Now the Tigers will set their sights on another crown -- the SEC Tournament next week in Tampa, Fla.

With its 82-71 win against South Carolina on Saturday, fifth-ranked Auburn secured the top overall seed in the conference tournament. Late Saturday night, the Tigers learned their path to the SEC Tournament title when the league released the full bracket for this year’s postseason tournament.

Read more Auburn hoops: Auburn wins outright SEC title while completing perfect home record

Walker Kessler plays through shoulder injury to help lift Auburn to title

Auburn christens Neville Arena ahead of championship weekend

Auburn, which earned a double-bye in the tournament, will open up play in the quarterfinals on Friday at 11 a.m. CT. Bruce Pearl’s team will face the winner of Thursday’s game between eighth-seeded Texas A&M and ninth-seeded Florida. The Tigers won the head-to-head matchup with the Aggies on Feb. 12 in Auburn, while they dropped their lone meeting with the Gators last month, 63-62, after a broken final possession in Gainesville, Fla.

Auburn’s quarterfinals matchup against the Florida-Texas A&M winner in Amalie Arena will air on ESPN.

If Auburn can win that game, it will advance to the semifinals Saturday at noon CT, also on ESPN. That game would be against either fourth-seeded Arkansas, fifth-seeded LSU, 12th-seeded Missouri or 13th-seeded Ole Miss. Missouri and Ole Miss open the tournament Wednesday night, with the winner facing LSU on Thursday afternoon. Arkansas will then get the winner of that game Friday afternoon, 25 minutes after the completion of Auburn’s quarterfinals matchup.

The SEC Tournament championship game will be held Sunday noon CT on ESPN. Tennessee is the two-seed on the opposite side of the bracket, while Kentucky is the three-seed. The Vols will face the winner of Mississippi State-South Carolina in the quarterfinals, while the Wildcats will open in the quarters against either Georgia, Vanderbilt or Alabama.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[gr82be 14,911]

The possibility of playing Florida in the quarterfinals doesn't give me a great feeling. Kessler has trouble with Castleton and his shoulder won't help if it doesn't heal. That's the one team I wanted to avoid. Let's go Aggies!

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

5 minutes ago, gr82be said:

The possibility of playing Florida in the quarterfinals doesn't give me a great feeling. Kessler has trouble with Castleton and his shoulder won't help if it doesn't heal. That's the one team I wanted to avoid. Let's go Aggies!

Good news.   Aggies are the hotter team right now.   I agree about Kessler’s shoulder.   IF we continue shooting better, we should be able to handle whichever team we face. Then, likely Arky or LSU on Saturday.    I think we’re looking at us vs UK in the finals Sunday.  🤞

[cheap seats 40]

 

4 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

dropped their lone meeting with the Gators last month, 63-62, after a broken final possession in Gainesville, Fla.

Lone meeting???

[Rednilla 5,447]

2 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

Good news.   Aggies are the hotter team right now.   I agree about Kessler’s shoulder.   IF we continue shooting better, we should be able to handle whichever team we face. Then, likely Arky or LSU on Saturday.    I think we’re looking at us vs UK in the finals Sunday.  🤞

If we continue shooting better from outside, I like our chances against anyone in the SEC, at least, if not in the country.

[Rednilla 5,447]

3 minutes ago, cheap seats said:

 

Lone meeting???

We only played Florida one time this year...

[zeroforwinger 457]

1 minute ago, Rednilla said:

We only played Florida one time this year...

You sure?

[Rednilla 5,447]

1 minute ago, zeroforwinger said:

You sure?

No, not entirely, I just didn't remember playing them at home.

[Rednilla 5,447]

Ah, just looked it up, and apparently we did play them at home early in the SEC schedule.

[AUBwins 10,268]

Yes we pulled away at the end against Florida at home earlier. 

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

Rather have Florida then Arkansas. Team will play with an edge and avenge a couple of mistakes on the road.

Glad we avoid Kentucky, Tennessee, or Bama until the championship game

[Rednilla 5,447]

11 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

Rather have Florida then Arkansas. Team will play with an edge and avenge a couple of mistakes on the road.

Glad we avoid Kentucky, Tennessee, or Bama until the championship game

Kentucky is the only one of those teams I think can legitimately beat us if not playing at home. Any of the rest of them might win, but I would contend that their win in that situation would be more us beating ourselves than being beaten by the opponent.

But Kentucky, especially with their two top guards healthy, has the hosses to beat us straight up on a neutral floor.

That having been said, I expect the fan base to travel well, turning the Tampa arena into a kind of makeshift home court advantage for us. At least, I hope that's what happens. We'll see, though.

[GTNupe11 2,077]

Horrible journalism. Doesn't even know we played UF twice this year. I'm less concerned with UK honestly.