Amanda Knapp
The SEC women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as the SEC Tournament, is the conference tournament for women's basketball in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The schedule is determined by a single-elimination tournament format that includes all 16 league schools, seeded based on regular-season records. The 2025 tournament's top seed was determined by a coin toss between the Texas Longhorns and South Carolina Gamecocks, who ended the regular season as co-champions. The tournament has been broadcast on various networks, including the SEC Network, ESPN, and ESPN2, with the championship game typically returning to ESPN.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Type of tournament | Single-elimination |
| Seeding | Based on regular-season records |
| Tie-breaker method | Coin toss |
| Broadcasting channels | SEC Network, ESPN, ESPN2 |
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What You'll Learn
Single-elimination tournament format
The SEC women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament, also known as a knockout or sudden-death tournament. This means that the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, where the winner becomes the tournament champion.
In a single-elimination tournament, there is always one fewer game than the number of participants. For example, in the SEC women's basketball tournament, there are currently 16 participants, so there will be 15 games in total.
Single-elimination tournaments are often seeded according to a ranking, which ensures that the better teams play weaker teams in the first round, followed by better teams facing off in the final round. As a general rule, the top player plays the worst player, followed by the second-best player playing the second-worst player, and so on. In the case of the SEC women's basketball tournament, the seeding is based on regular-season records.
Sometimes, the remaining competitors in a single-elimination tournament will be "re-seeded". This means that the highest surviving seed will play the lowest surviving seed in the next round, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, and so on. This tactic is employed in some American team sports, such as the NFL, but not in others, such as the MLS, NHL, or NBA.
In a single-elimination tournament, there may also be a third-place playoff, where the two semi-final losers compete for third place. This is common in many Olympic single-elimination tournaments, where a bronze medal is awarded to the winner of this match.
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Permanent opponents
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament involving all 16 league schools. Each team will play three schools twice every year. For instance, in the 2025-26 season, Vanderbilt's permanent opponents included Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma. The SEC women's basketball schedule consists of a single round-robin of home or away contests between all 14 league members, with one rotating home-and-home series.
In the 2025 tournament, the No. 9 Tennessee team played against No. 16 Texas A&M, with Tennessee winning 77-37. Game 2 saw No. 12 Georgia defeat No. 13 Arkansas 79-74. Game 3 was between No. 10 Mississippi State and No. 15 Missouri, with Mississippi State winning 75-55. Game 4 was won by No. 14 Florida, who beat No. 11 Auburn 60-50. Vanderbilt, the No. 8 team, won Game 5 against No. 9 Tennessee 84-76. Game 6 saw No. 5 Oklahoma defeat No. 12 Georgia 70-52. Game 7 was a match-up between No. 7 Ole Miss and the winner of Game 3, and Game 8 was between No. 6 Alabama and the winner of Game 4.
The quarterfinal matchups were broadcast on ESPN and the SEC Network, with the first two quarterfinals on ESPN and the final two on the SEC Network. The semifinal games moved to ESPN2, and the championship game was broadcast on ESPN.
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Rotating schedule
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools. The tournament first began in 1980 and originally determined the conference champion.
In the 2015-16 season, the SEC adopted a new scheduling model for men's basketball, which included three permanent opponents for each team. Each team would play the other 13 teams at least once during the league play. They would then play their three permanent opponents for a second time, and the remaining two games would be scheduled on a rotating basis.
This model ensures that each team has a consistent set of opponents while also allowing for some variation in the schedule. It is unclear if the same scheduling model is used for the women's tournament, as official sources do not specify this.
The SEC women's basketball tournament has a long history, dating back to 1980, and has undergone changes over the years. While the specific rotating schedule for the women's tournament may not be publicly available, the structure of the tournament and the process of determining the champion have evolved.
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Seeding based on records
The seeding for the SEC women's basketball tournament is based on regular-season records. The tournament is a single-elimination format involving all 16 league schools, with seeding determined by each team's performance during the regular season.
The SEC women's basketball tournament first began in 1980 and initially determined the conference champion. Even when the SEC introduced a uniform conference schedule in 1982-83, the tournament continued to decide the official conference champion until 1985. From the 1985-86 season onwards, the SEC started awarding its official conference championship to the team(s) with the best regular-season record. This change aligned the SEC women's basketball seeding with that of the men's tournament, where the conference title has been awarded based on regular-season records since the 1950-51 season.
In the event of a tie, a coin toss may be used to determine the higher seed. For example, in 2025, the Texas Longhorns and South Carolina Gamecocks finished the regular season as co-champions with identical 15-1 records in SEC play. A coin toss was used to determine the No. 1 seed, which was won by the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The seeding based on records ensures that the SEC women's basketball tournament is competitive and that teams are rewarded for their performance during the regular season. It provides a structured format for the single-elimination tournament, allowing teams to advance through the bracket based on their seeding.
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Tiebreakers
The SEC women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools. The tournament is seeded based on regular-season records.
In the event of a tie, the following tiebreakers are used to determine the conference champion:
- If two teams have the same record in SEC play, the tiebreaker is decided by a coin toss. The winner of the coin toss will earn the higher seed in the tournament. For example, in 2025, the Texas Longhorns and South Carolina Gamecocks ended the regular season as co-champions with a 15-1 record in SEC play. The No. 1 seed in the tournament was determined by a coin toss, which was won by the South Carolina Gamecocks.
- If more than two teams are tied, the tiebreaker is decided by the teams' head-to-head records against each other. The team with the best record against the tied teams will earn the higher seed.
- If the head-to-head records are still tied, the tiebreaker is decided by each team's record against the rest of the conference, starting with the team ranked highest in the SEC and working down. The team with the best record against the higher-ranked SEC teams will earn the higher seed.
- If there is still a tie after considering all of the above factors, the tiebreaker is decided by a coin toss. The teams involved in the tie will each participate in a coin toss, and the winner will earn the higher seed. This process is repeated until the tie is broken.
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Frequently asked questions
The schedule is determined by the regular-season records of all 16 league schools. The tournament is single-elimination style.
The games are broadcast on the SEC Network, ESPN, and ESPN2.
Some of the teams include Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi State, Florida, Vanderbilt, LSU, and Kentucky.
