# 2020–21 Southeastern Conference women's basketball season

The 2020–21 SEC women's basketball season began with practices in November 2020 and was followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in December. Conference play started in late December and will conclude in February, followed by the 2021 SEC women's basketball tournament at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, in March.

## Pre-season
### Pre-season team predictions

| | Coaches |
| 1. | South Carolina |
| 2. | Kentucky |
| 3. | Texas A&M |
| 4. | Arkansas |
| 5. | Mississippi State |
| 6. | Tennessee |
| 7. | LSU |
| 8. | Alabama |
| 9. | Georgia |
| 10. | Missouri |
| 11. | Ole Miss |
| 12. | Florida |
| 13. | Vanderbilt |
| 14. | Auburn |

### Pre-season All-SEC teams

| Media | Coaches |
| Rhyne Howard Kentucky | Howard |
| Aliyah Boston South Carolina | Boston |
| | Chelsea Dungee Arkansas |
| | Unique Thompson Auburn |
| | Khayla Pointer LSU |
| | Rickea Jackson Mississippi State |
| | Rennia Davis Tennessee |
| | N'dea Jones Texas A&M |
* Coaches select eight players
* Player in bold is choice for SEC Player of the Year

## Head coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and SEC records are from time at current school.
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Seasons at school | Overall record | SEC record | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA Final Fours | NCAA Championships |
| Alabama | Kristy Curry | Texas Tech | 8th | 116–108 | 38–74 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arkansas | Mike Neighbors | Washington | 4th | 59–41 | 19–29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Auburn | Terri Williams-Flournoy | Georgetown | 9th | 135–119 | 48–80 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | Cameron Newbauer | Belmont | 4th | 34–57 | 12–36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | Joni Taylor | Georgia (asst.) | 6th | 97–57 | 44–35 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | Kyra Elzy | Kentucky (associate HC) | 1st | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LSU | Nikki Fargas | UCLA | 10th | 167–116 | 75–69 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi State | Nikki McCray-Penson | Old Dominion | 1st | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Missouri | Robin Pingeton | Illinois State | 11th | 180–140 | 64–64 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Ole Miss | Yolett McPhee-McCuin | Jacksonville | 3rd | 16–45 | 3–29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Dawn Staley | Temple | 13th | 305–98 | 138–52 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| Tennessee | Kellie Harper | Missouri State | 2nd | 21–10 | 10–6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas A&M | Gary Blair | Arkansas | 18th | 379–155 | 73–36 | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| Vanderbilt | Stephanie White | Indiana Fever | 5th | 42–79 | 13–51 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Weekly rankings

Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Received votes. NR=No rank/vote. :
| | | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 |
| Alabama | AP | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | |
| Alabama | C | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | AP | 14 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 15 |
| Arkansas | C | 14 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 16 | |
| Auburn | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Auburn | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia | AP | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | 25 | 24 | 22 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 10 |
| Georgia | C | | | | | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 22 | 13 | 12 | |
| Kentucky | AP | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| Kentucky | C | 12 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | |
| LSU | AP | | | | | | | | | | | RV | | | | | | |
| LSU | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mississippi State | AP | 6 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 24 | RV | RV | | | | |
| Mississippi State | C | 7 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | | | |
| Missouri | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Missouri | C | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| South Carolina | AP | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| South Carolina | C | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | |
| Tennessee | AP | RV | RV | | | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 25 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 20 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Tennessee | C | RV | | | | RV | RV | 24 | RV | 22 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 15 | 15 | |
| Texas A&M | AP | 13 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Texas A&M | C | 13 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Vanderbilt | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Vanderbilt | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Conference matrix

| | Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | LSU | Miss. State | Missouri | Ole Miss | S. Carolina | Tennessee | Texas A&M | Vanderbilt |
| vs. Alabama | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 59–67 | 78–86 | 59–74 | 0–0 | 77–60 | 82–56 | 0–0 | 56–80 |
| vs. Arkansas | 0–0 | – | 0–0 | 80–84 | 0–0 | 75–64 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 88–91 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 88–73 | 74–73 | 0–0 |
| vs. Auburn | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 68–54 | 76–44 | 0–0 | 56–43 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 62–58 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Florida | 0–0 | 84–80 | 54–68 | – | 68–58 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 68–56 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 75–59 | 0–0 | 92–67 | 0–0 |
| vs. Georgia | 0–0 | 0–0 | 44–76 | 58–68 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 69–62 | 0–0 | 57–73 | 0–0 | 66–67 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Kentucky | 0–0 | 64–75 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 0–0 | 86–92$^{OT}$ | 0–0 | 0–0 | 75–70 | 0–0 | 77–60 | 73–80 |
| vs. LSU | 67–59 | 0–0 | 43–56 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 69–77$^{OT}$ | 0–0 | 64–63 | 61–65 | 0–0 |
| vs. Miss. State | 86–78 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 56–68 | 62–69 | 92–86$^{OT}$ | 0–0 | – | 0–0 | 56–60 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 69–41 | 0–0 |
| vs. Missouri | 74–59 | 91–88 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 77–86 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Ole Miss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 58–62 | 0–0 | 73–57 | 0–0 | 77–69$^{OT}$ | 60–56 | 86–77 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. South Carolina | 60–77 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 59–75 | 0–0 | 70–75 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 43–106 |
| vs. Tennessee | 56–82 | 73–88 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 67–66 | 0–0 | 63–64 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Texas A&M | 0–0 | 73–74 | 0–0 | 67–92 | 0–0 | 60–77 | 65–61 | 41–69 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – | 0–0 |
| vs. Vanderbilt | 80–56 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 80–73 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 106–43 | 0–0 | 0–0 | – |
| Total | 4–2 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 |

## Postseason
### SEC tournament

* March 3–7 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Teams are seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion. Vanderbilt canceled its season after three conference games and, therefore, will not participate in the tournament.
2021 SEC women's basketball tournament seeds and results :
| Seed | School | Conf. | Over. | Tiebreaker | First Round March 3 | Second Round March 4 | Quarterfinals March 5 | Semifinals March 6 | Championship March 7 |
| 1 | ‡†Texas A&M | 13–1 | 23–2 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #8 LSU W, 77–58 | vs. #4 Georgia L, 68–74 | |
| 2 | †South Carolina | 14–2 | 22–4 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #7 Alabama W, 75–63 | vs. # 3 Tennessee W, 67–52 | vs. #4 Georgia W, 67–62 |
| 3 | †Tennessee | 9–4 | 16–7 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #11 Ole Miss W, 77–72 | vs. #2 South Carolina L, 52–67 | |
| 4 | †Georgia | 10–5 | 20–6 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #5 Kentucky W, 78–66 | vs. #1 Texas A&M W, 74–68 | vs. #2 South Carolina L, 62–67 |
| 5 | #Kentucky | 9–6 | 17–8 | 1–0 vs. ARK | Bye | vs. #12 Florida W, 73–64 | vs. #4 Georgia L, 66–78 | | |
| 6 | #Arkansas | 9–6 | 19–8 | 0–1 vs. UK | Bye | vs. #11 Ole Miss L, 60–69 | | | |
| 7 | #Alabama | 8–8 | 16–9 | | Bye | vs. #10 Missouri W, 82–74 | vs. #2 South Carolina L, 63–75 | | |
| 8 | #LSU | 6–8 | 9–13 | | Bye | vs. #9 Mississippi State W, 71–62 | vs. #1 Texas A&M L, 58–77 | | |
| 9 | #Mississippi State | 5–7 | 10–9 | | Bye | vs. #8 LSU L, 62–71 | | | |
| 10 | #Missouri | 5–9 | 9–11 | | Bye | vs. #7 Alabama L, 75–82 | | | |
| 11 | #Ole Miss | 4–10 | 11–11 | | Bye | vs. #6 Arkansas W, 69–60 | vs. #3 Tennessee L, 72–77 | | |
| 12 | Florida | 3–11 | 11–13 | | vs. #13 Auburn W, 69–62 | vs. #5 Kentucky L, 64–73 | | | |
| 13 | Auburn | 0–15 | 5–19 | | vs. #12 Florida L, 62–69 | | | | |
| ‡ – SEC regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed. † – Received a double-bye in the conference tournament. # – Received a single-bye in the conference tournament. Overall records include all games played in the tournament. ||||||||||

### NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament

* March 21–April 4
| Seed | Bracket | School | First Round | Second Round | Sweet 16 | Elite 8 | Final Four |
| 1 | HemisFair | South Carolina | vs. #16 Mercer W, 79–53 | vs. #8 Oregon State W, 59–42 | vs. #5 Georgia Tech W, 76–65 | vs. #6 Texas W, 62–34 | vs. #1 Stanford L, 65–66 |
| 2 | Mercado | Texas A&M | vs. #15 Troy W, 84–80 | vs. #7 Iowa State W, 84–82$^{OT}$ | vs. #3 Arizona L, 59–79 | | |
| 3 | Alamo | Georgia | vs. #14 Drexel W, 60–53 | vs. #6 Oregon L, 50–57 | | | |
| 3 | River Walk | Tennessee | vs. #14 Middle Tennessee W, 87–62 | vs. #6 Michigan L, 55–70 | | | |
| 4 | River Walk | Kentucky | vs. #13 Idaho State W, 71–63 | vs. #5 Iowa L, 72–86 | | | |
| 7 | HemisFair | Alabama | vs. #10 North Carolina W, 80–71 | vs. #2 Maryland L, 64–100 | | | |
| # Bids: 6 | W-L (%): | TOTAL: 10–6 (.625) | 6–0 (1.000) | 2–4 (.333) | 1–1 (.500) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) |

### Women's National Invitation tournament

* March 19–28
| School | First Round March 19 | Second Round March 20 | Quarterfinals March 22 | Semifinals March 26 | Championship March 28 |
| Missouri | vs. Fresno State L, 75–78 | | | | |
| Ole Miss | vs. Samford W, 64–45 | vs. Tulane W, 72–61 | vs. Colorado W, 65–56 | vs. Northern Iowa W, 60–50 | vs. Rice L, 58–71 |
| Florida | vs. Charlotte W, 66–65 | vs. Villanova L, 57–77 | | | |

#### Consolation games

| School | First Game March 20 |
| Missouri | vs. Arizona State L, 39–50 |