# 2012 SEC men's basketball tournament

The 2012 SEC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Southeastern Conference held from March 8–11, 2012 in New Orleans at the New Orleans Arena.

## Tournament notes

This was also the first year teams were seeded #1 through #12, as the conference eliminated divisional play prior to the season, although the 2011–12 schedule was still structured based upon the divisions used from 1991–92 through 2010–11.
This was the last SEC tournament to have 12 teams. The addition of Missouri and Texas A&M from the Big 12 Conference had been announced prior to the season.

## Television coverage

The first round and quarterfinal rounds were televised through the ESPN Regional Television-operated SEC Network through regional syndication. The semifinals and final were broadcast nationally on ABC.

## Seeds
### As of completed games on March 4. Applies tiebreaker as best as possible.

2012 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament seeds :
| Seed | School | Conf. | Over. | Tiebreaker |
| 1. | Kentucky ‡ † | 16–0 | 30–1 | |
| 2. | Tennessee † | 10–6 | 18–13 | 1–1 vs VAN; 2–0 vs FLA; Total 3–1 |
| 3. | Vanderbilt † | 10–6 | 21–10 | 1–1 vs TEN; 1–1 vs FLA; Total 2–2 |
| 4. | Florida † | 10–6 | 22–9 | 1–1 vs VAN; 0–2 vs TEN; Total 1–3 |
| 5. | Alabama | 9–7 | 20–10 | |
| 6. | Mississippi State | 8–8 | 21–10 | 1–1 vs MISS; 1–0 vs TEN |
| 7. | Ole Miss | 8–8 | 18–12 | 1–1 vs MSU; 0–1 vs TEN |
| 8. | LSU | 7–9 | 17–13 | |
| 9. | Arkansas | 6–10 | 18–13 | |
| 10. | Auburn | 5–11 | 15–15 | 1–0 vs UGA |
| 11. | Georgia | 5–11 | 14–16 | 0–1 vs AUB |
| 12. | South Carolina | 2–14 | 10–20 | |
| ‡ – SEC regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed. † – Received a bye in the conference tournament. Overall records are as of the end of the regular season. ||||||

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Television | Attendance |
| First Round - Thursday, March 8 ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 12:00 PM | #8 LSU vs. #9 Arkansas | SEC Network | 10,703 |
| 1 | 2 | 2:30 PM | #5 Alabama vs. #12 South Carolina | SEC Network | 10,703 |
| 2 | 3 | 6:30 PM | #7 Ole Miss vs. #10 Auburn | SEC Network | 10,197 |
| 2 | 4 | 9:00 PM | #6 Mississippi State vs. #11 Georgia | SEC Network | 10,197 |
| Quarterfinals - Friday, March 9 ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 12:00 PM | #1 Kentucky vs. #8 LSU | SEC Network | 18,207 |
| 3 | 6 | 2:30 PM | #4 Florida vs. #5 Alabama | SEC Network | 18,207 |
| 4 | 7 | 6:30 PM | #2 Tennessee vs. #7 Ole Miss | SEC Network | 10,526 |
| 4 | 8 | 9:00 PM | #3 Vanderbilt vs. #11 Georgia | SEC Network | 10,526 |
| Semifinals - Saturday, March 10 ||||||
| 5 | 9 | 12:00 PM | #1 Kentucky vs. #4 Florida | ABC | 18,523 |
| 5 | 10 | 2:30 PM | #7 Ole Miss vs. #3 Vanderbilt | ABC | 18,523 |
| Championship Game - Sunday, March 11 ||||||
| 6 | 11 | 12:00 PM | #1 Kentucky vs. #3 Vanderbilt | ABC | 18,114 |
| *Game Times in CT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||

## Bracket

| First round March 8, 2012 SEC Network | First round March 8, 2012 SEC Network | First round March 8, 2012 SEC Network | Quarterfinals March 9, 2012 SEC Network | Quarterfinals March 9, 2012 SEC Network | Quarterfinals March 9, 2012 SEC Network | Semifinals March 10, 2012 ABC | Semifinals March 10, 2012 ABC | Semifinals March 10, 2012 ABC | Championship Game March 11, 2012 ABC | Championship Game March 11, 2012 ABC | Championship Game March 11, 2012 ABC |
| | | | 1 | #1 Kentucky | 60 | | | | | | |
| 8 | LSU | 70 | 8 | LSU | 51 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Arkansas | 54 | | | | 1 | #1 Kentucky | 74 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | #22 Florida | 71 | | | |
| | | | 4 | #22 Florida | 66 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Alabama | 63 | 5 | Alabama | 63 | | | | | | |
| 12 | South Carolina | 57 | | | | | | | 1 | #1 Kentucky | 64 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Vanderbilt | 71 |
| | | | 2 | Tennessee | 72 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Ole Miss | 68 | 7 | Ole Miss | 77$^{OT}$ | | | | | | |
| 10 | Auburn | 54 | | | | 7 | Ole Miss | 53 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Vanderbilt | 65 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Vanderbilt | 63 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Mississippi State | 61 | 11 | Georgia | 41 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Georgia | 71 | | | | | | | | | |

## SEC All-tournament team

* John Jenkins, Vanderbilt MVP
* Erik Murphy, Florida
* Bradley Beal, Florida
* Terrence Jones, Kentucky
* Anthony Davis, Kentucky
* Lance Goulbourne, Vanderbilt