Sec Championship Basketball: Semifinal Saturday set as Florida, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Ole Miss advance in Nashville
The road to sec championship basketball is down to four teams in Nashville, where the 2026 SEC men’s tournament is scheduled to run from Wednesday, March 11 through the title game on Sunday, March 15 at Bridgestone Arena.
Sec Championship Basketball semifinal matchups locked in
The bracket is set for Saturday’s semifinal doubleheader: No. 1 seed Florida will face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt in the first matchup, followed by No. 3 seed Arkansas against No. 15 seed Ole Miss.
Game times and TV details were listed with the matchups: Florida vs. Vanderbilt at 1 p. m. and Arkansas vs. Ole Miss at 3: 30 p. m.
How the bracket narrowed: key results that set up Saturday
Florida reached the semifinals after a 71-63 win over No. 9 Kentucky. Vanderbilt advanced by beating No. 5 Tennessee 75-68.
Ole Miss continued its run with an 80-79 win over No. 2 Alabama on Friday night. Ole Miss coach Chris Beard framed the team’s belief after the win.
“I know many of you haven’t followed our season other than the win/loss record. I know that’s not easy to look at. But we played some good basketball. We can play with anybody in this league, ” Beard said on Friday.
Beard also pointed back to an earlier meeting with Alabama in Oxford, Mississippi, describing how competitive it was before the finish.
“We played Alabama in Oxford, Mississippi several weeks ago. Basically tied game at halftime. One-possession game about 10 minutes left. They hit us with a haymaker. The final score wasn’t reflective of what the game really was, ” Beard said.
On the other side of the bracket, Arkansas reached the semifinals with an 82-79 win over Oklahoma, setting up the matchup with Ole Miss.
What happens next: title-game stakes and the storyline to watch
Saturday’s games will decide the two finalists for Sunday, March 15. Florida enters as the No. 1 seed and was described as the defending champion after defeating Tennessee 86-77 in the 2025 title game. This year’s semifinal opponent, Vanderbilt, is coming off its win over Tennessee to earn a shot at the top seed.
The other semifinal pairs Arkansas, a No. 3 seed, against a No. 15 seed Ole Miss team that has been described as a “Cinderella run” and is now one win from the championship game. In practical terms for sec championship basketball, the remaining questions are straightforward: can Florida keep its tournament defense on track, and can Ole Miss extend its upset path one more round against Arkansas to reach Sunday?
