# 2015–16 Southeastern Conference men's basketball season

The 2015–16 SEC men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015, followed by the start of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in early January 2016 and concluding in March, after which 13 member teams had participated in the 2016 SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, with the tournament champion being guaranteed selection to the 2016 NCAA tournament.

## Preseason

On March 15, 2015, Anthony Grant was fired from Alabama. On April 5, 2015, ESPN reported that Avery Johnson had verbally agreed to become the new head basketball coach at the University of Alabama, replacing Grant. The following day, the university officially announced Johnson's hiring.
On March 21, 2015 Rick Ray was fired by Mississippi State. On March 24, 2015, Ben Howland was hired as the 20th head coach of Mississippi State replacing Ray.
On March 27, 2015, Tennessee fired Donnie Tyndall after the NCAA notified Tennessee officials of possible NCAA violations at Southern Miss. The violations centered around improper financial aid for two players, as well as academic problems with junior college transfers. According to a copy of Tyndall's termination letter, Tyndall had lied to Tennessee officials about the extent of the violations on several occasions, and had also deleted several emails from an old email account even though he was aware he would have been questioned about activity on that account by the NCAA. At a press conference announcing Tyndall's firing, athletics director Dave Hart said that he would have never hired Tyndall had the true extent of the violations at Southern Miss been known. Texas head coach Rick Barnes was named Tyndall's replacement.
On April 30, 2015, Billy Donovan agreed to a $30 million, multi-year deal to coach the Oklahoma City Thunder, replacing Scott Brooks who previously coached the Thunder for seven seasons. On May 7, 2015, Louisiana Tech head coach Mike White was named as Donovan's replacement.

### Media Day selections

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

### Preseason All-SEC teams

* Media
* Danuel House Texas A&M Damian Jones Vanderbilt Skal Labissière Kentucky Stefan Moody Ole Miss Ben Simmons LSU Tyler Ulis Kentucky
* Coaches select 8 players
* Players in bold are choices 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 | Avery Johnson | Brooklyn Nets | 1st | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arkansas | Mike Anderson | Missouri | 5th | 86–48 | 39–31 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Auburn | Bruce Pearl | Tennessee | 2nd | 15–20 | 4–14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | Mike White | Louisiana Tech | 1st | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | Mark Fox | Nevada | 7th | 105–88 | 51–51 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | John Calipari | Memphis | 7th | 190–38 | 82–20 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| LSU | Johnny Jones | North Texas | 4th | 61–37 | 29–25 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi State | Ben Howland | UCLA | 1st | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Missouri | Kim Anderson | Central Missouri | 2nd | 9–23 | 3–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ole Miss | Andy Kennedy | Cincinnati | 10th | 192–114 | 78–72 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Frank Martin | Kansas State | 4th | 64–56 | 21–41 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | Rick Barnes | Texas | 1st | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas A&M | Billy Kennedy | Murray State | 5th | 71–61 | 26–28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vanderbilt | Kevin Stallings | Illinois State | 17th | 313–206 | 127–135 | 6 | 0 | 0 |

## Rankings

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | | 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 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| Alabama | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Alabama | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV | RV |
| Auburn | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Auburn | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | AP | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | RV | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | C | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | RV | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Kentucky | AP | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 14 | 16 | 22 | 16 | 10 | |
| Kentucky | C | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 16 |
| LSU | AP | 21 | 23 | 22 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| LSU | C | 19 | 19 | 17 | RV | RV | RV | | | | | RV | RV | | RV | RV | RV | | | | |
| Mississippi State | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mississippi State | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Missouri | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Missouri | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| South Carolina | AP | | | | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 24 | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | | | | |
| South Carolina | C | | | | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | | |
| Tennessee | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tennessee | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M | AP | RV | RV | 25 | 18 | RV | 24 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 15 | RV | 21 | 20 | | | |
| Texas A&M | C | RV | RV | RV | 20 | 25 | 24 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 15 | |
| Vanderbilt | AP | 18 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 21 | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | RV | | | |
| Vanderbilt | C | 20 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 23 | 25 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## SEC regular season

On January 13, 2016, Missouri announced that it would not participate in any postseason play in 2016, including the SEC Tournament. At the time, the Tigers were facing an NCAA investigation into major rules violations that occurred under the tenure of former head coach Frank Haith.

### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
| | Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | LSU | Mississippi State | Missouri | Ole Miss | South Carolina | Tennessee | Texas A&M | Vanderbilt |
| vs. Alabama | – | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| vs. Arkansas | 0–1 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Auburn | 1–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Florida | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Georgia | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Kentucky | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. LSU | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Miss. State | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | – | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Missouri | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | – | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Ole Miss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. South Carolina | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Tennessee | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Texas A&M | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | – | 1–1 |
| vs. Vanderbilt | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – |
| Total | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 3–15 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 11–7 |

## Postseason
### SEC Tournament

The conference tournament is scheduled for Wednesday–Sunday, March 9–13, 2016 at the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee. Teams will be seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion, if necessary.
The tournament will involve only 13 teams after Missouri self-imposed a postseason ban.
2016 SEC men's basketball tournament seeds and results :
| Seed | School | Conf. | Over. | Tiebreaker | First round March 9 | Second round March 10 | Quarterfinals March 11 | Semifinals March 12 | Championship March 13 |
| 1. | ‡Texas A&M | 13–5 | 24–7 | 1–0 vs. Kentucky | Bye | Bye | vs. #8 Florida W, 72–66 | vs. #4 LSU W, 71–38 | vs. #2 Kentucky L, 77–82$^{OT}$ |
| 2. | †Kentucky | 13–5 | 23–8 | 0–1 vs. Texas A&M | Bye | Bye | vs. #10 Alabama W, 85–59 | vs. #6 Georgia W, 93–80 | vs. #1 Texas A&M W, 82–77$^{OT}$ |
| 3. | †South Carolina | 11–7 | 24–7 | 2–0 vs. LSU/Vanderbilt | Bye | Bye | vs. #6 Georgia L, 64–65 | | |
| 4. | †LSU | 11–7 | 18–13 | 1–1 vs. S. Carolina/Vanderbilt | Bye | Bye | vs. #12 Tennessee W, 84–75 | vs. #1 Texas A&M L, 38–71 | |
| 5. | #Vanderbilt | 11–7 | 19–13 | 0–2 vs. South Carolina/LSU | Bye | vs. #12 Tennessee L, 65–67 | | | |
| 6. | #Georgia | 10–8 | 17–12 | 2–0 vs. South Carolina | Bye | vs. #11 Mississippi State W, 79–69 | vs. #3 South Carolina W, 65–64 | vs. #2 Kentucky L, 80–93 | |
| 7. | Ole Miss | 10–8 | 20–11 | 0–1 vs. South Carolina | Bye | vs. #10 Alabama L, 73–81 | | | |
| 8. | #Florida | 9–9 | 19–13 | 1–0 vs. Arkansas | Bye | vs. #9 Arkansas W, 68-61 | vs. #1 Texas A&M L, 66-72 | | |
| 9. | #Arkansas | 9–9 | 16–16 | 0–1 vs. Florida | Bye | vs. #8 Florida L, 61-68 | | | |
| 10. | #Alabama | 8–10 | 17–13 | | Bye | vs. #7 Ole Miss W, 83-71' | vs. #2 Kentucky L, 59-85 | | |
| 11. | #Mississippi St. | 7–11 | 14–16 | | Bye | vs. #6 Georgia L, 69-79 | | | |
| 12. | Tennessee | 6–12 | 15–18 | | vs. #13 Auburn W, 97–59 | vs. #5 Vanderbilt W, 67–65 | vs. #4 LSU L, 75-84 | | |
| 13. | Auburn | 5–13 | 11–19 | | vs. #12 Tennessee L, 59–97 | | | | |
| ‡ – 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 SEC tournament. ||||||||||

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First round | Second round | Sweet 16 | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 3 | West | Texas A&M | | vs. #14 Green Bay W, 92–65 (Oklahoma City) | vs. #11 Northern Iowa W, 92–88 (Oklahoma City) | vs. #2 Oklahoma L 63–77 (Anaheim) | | | |
| 4 | East | Kentucky | | vs. #13 Stony Brook W, 85–67 (Des Moines) | vs. #5 Indiana L, 67–73 (Des Moines) | | | | |
| 11 | South | Vanderbilt | vs. #11 Wichita State L, 50–70 (Dayton) | | | | | | |
| | 3 Bids | W-L (%): | 0–1 .000 | 2–0 1.000 | 1–1 .500 | 0–1 .000 | 0–0 – | 0–0 – | TOTAL: 3–3 .500 |

### National Invitation Tournament

| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 1 | South Carolina/San Diego State Quadrant | South Carolina | vs. #8 High Point W, 88–66 (Columbia) | vs. #4 Georgia Tech (Columbia) | | | |
| 2 | Monmouth/Florida Quadrant | Florida | vs. #7 North Florida W, 97–68 (Jacksonville) | vs. #3 Ohio State W, 74–66 (Columbus) | vs. #4 George Washington L, 77–82 (Washington D.C.) | | |
| 3 | Valparaiso/Saint Mary's Quadrant | Georgia | vs. #6 Belmont W, 93–84 (Athens) | vs. #2 St. Mary's L, 65–77 (Moraga) | | | |
| 5 | St. Bonaventure/BYU Quadrant | Alabama | vs. #4 Creighton L, 54–72 (Omaha) | | | | |
| | 4 Bids | W-L (%): | 3–1 .750 | 1–2 .333 | 0–1 .000 | 0–0 – | TOTAL: 4–4 .500 |

### NBA draft
## Honors and awards
### All-Americans

Starting on March 6, the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans were released for 2015–16 season, based upon selections by the four major syndicates. The four syndicates include the Associated Press, USBWA, NABC, and Sporting News.

### All-SEC awards and teams
#### Coaches

2016 SEC Men's Basketball Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Tyler Ulis, So., G, Kentucky |
| Coach of the Year | Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Tyler Ulis, So., G, Kentucky |
| Freshman of the Year | Ben Simmons, F, LSU |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Retin Obasohan, Sr., G, Alabama |
| Sixth Man Award | Duane Notice, Jr., G, South Carolina |
2016 SEC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | All-Freshman Team | All-Defensive Team |
| Michael Carrera Sr., F, South Carolina Jalen Jones Sr., F, Texas A&M Damian Jones Jr., F, Vanderbilt Stefan Moody Sr., G, Ole Miss Jamal Murray Fr., G, Kentucky Ben Simmons Fr., F, LSU Retin Obasohan Sr., G, Alabama Tyler Ulis So., G, Kentucky | Wade Baldwin So., G, Vanderbilt Alex Caruso Sr., F, Texas A&M Dorian Finney-Smith Sr., F, Florida J. J. Frazier Sr., G, Georgia Danuel House Sr., F, Texas A&M Moses Kingsley Jr., C, Arkansas Yante Maten So., F, Georgia Kevin Punter Jr., G, Tennessee | KeVaughn Allen Florida Antonio Blakeney LSU Tyler Davis Texas A&M D. J. Hogg Texas A&M Jamal Murray Kentucky Kevin Puryear Missouri Ben Simmons LSU Quinndary Weatherspoon Miss. State | Alex Caruso Sr., F, Texas A&M Luke Kornet Jr., F, Vanderbilt Moses Kingsley Jr., C, Arkansas Retin Obasohan Sr., G, Alabama Sindarius Thornwell Jr., G, South Carolina Tyler Ulis So., G, Kentucky |
| † - denotes unanimous selection |||||