SEC men’s basketball tournament bracket set. Here’s where USC landed

South Carolina men’s basketball begins its last hurrah of the 2025-26 season on Wednesday.

Fourth-year coach Lamont Paris and the Gamecocks (13-18, 4-14 SEC) just wrapped up their regular season on Saturday with a 64-61 win against Ole Miss in Oxford.

The Gamecocks aren’t in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, meaning the only possible chance at an NCAA Tournament spot would require USC to run the table at the SEC men’s basketball tournament in Nashville and earn an autobid. The Gamecocks are the No. 14 seed in the bracket.

This is the fourth-straight year the men’s tournament has been held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, where it’s under contract to remain until 2035. The 2022 tournament in Tampa was the last time the event was held outside the Music City.

USC has won its conference tournament just twice in program history, winning the SoCon tournament title in 1933 and the ACC tournament title in 1971. The Gamecocks have never won an SEC Tournament championship. The furthest USC has made it in the SEC tournament under Paris was a quarterfinal appearance in 2024, where it lost to Auburn — the Gamecocks received an at-large NCAA Tournament bid that season and fell in the first round to Oregon.

The Gamecocks are set to take on No. 11 seed Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 SEC) in the first round on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.

SEC Tournament bracket, scores

First round: Wednesday, March 11

G1: No. 16 LSU vs. No. 9 Kentucky (12:30 p.m. on SEC Network)

G2: No. 13 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Auburn (3 p.m. on SEC Network)

G3: No. 15 Ole Miss vs. No. 10 Texas (7 p.m. on SEC Network)

G4: No. 14 South Carolina vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (9:30 p.m. on SEC Network)

Second round: Thursday, March 12

G5: G1 Winner vs. No. 8 Missouri (12:30 p.m. on SEC Network)

G6: G2 Winner vs. No. 5 Tennessee (3 p.m. on SEC Network)

G7: G3 Winner vs. No. 7 Georgia (7 p.m. on SEC Network)

G8: G4 Winner vs. No. 6 Texas A&M (9:30 p.m. on SEC Network)

Quarterfinals: Friday, March 13

G9: G5 Winner vs. No. 1 Florida (1 p.m. on ESPN)

G10: G6 Winner vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (3:30 p.m. on ESPN)

G11: G7 Winner vs. No. 2 Alabama (7 p.m. on SEC Network)

G12: G8 Winner vs. No. 3 Arkansas (9:30 p.m. on SEC Network)

Semifinals: Saturday, March 14

G13: G10 Winner vs. G9 Winner (1 p.m. on ESPN)

G14: G12 Winner vs. G11 Winner (3:30 p.m. on ESPN)

Championship: Sunday, March 15

G15: G14 Winner vs. G13 Winner (1 p.m. on ESPN)

This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 9:52 PM.