Thirty-one teams from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 earned spots, prompting some questions about what the future of this event will look like.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer told ESPN that the goal is for star freshman Cooper Flagg to play in Friday's first-round game following his ankle injury.

The SEC set a new record by placing 14 of its 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament bracket, besting the previous mark of 11 set by the Big East in 2011 when it also had 16 members. By percentage (87.5%), the SEC's NCAA Tournament haul is also the best ever, topping the 77.7% mark posted when the nine-team Big East put seven schools in the 1991 bracket.

The Auburn Tigers won the SEC regular-season championship but have been struggling as they march toward the NCAA Tournament, losing in the SEC Tournament semifinals to the Tennessee Volunteers and dropping three of their last four games.

The wait until Sunday surely will feel like forever for the Texas Longhorns, who left their home court just last week to Oklahoma fans chanting “NIT! NIT!” Now here they sit, a legitimate NCAA Tournament hopeful because of what they did in the SEC Tournament.

Zakai Zeigler scored 20 points as No. 8 Tennessee held off regular-season champion and third-ranked Auburn 70-65 to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 2022.

The race for a No. 1 seed in the men's NCAA Tournament just got tighter on Saturday. In the men's SEC basketball tournament, No. seed 4 Tennessee knocked off No. 1 seed Auburn 70-65 in the SEC semifinal from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

It's Auburn vs Tennessee in SEC Tournament semifinal. Here's how to watch, including time, channel, TV schedule and streaming info.