| 2015–16 SEC Men's Basketball Season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Teams | 14 |
| TV partner(s) | CBS,ESPN,SEC Network |
| Regular Season | |
| 2016 SEC Champions | Kentucky andTexas A&M |
| SeasonMVP | Tyler Ulis, Kentucky |
| Top scorer | Stefan Moody |
| Tournament | |
| Venue | Bridgestone Arena,Nashville, Tennessee |
| Champions | Kentucky |
| Runners-up | Texas A&M |
| FinalsMVP | Tyler Ulis,Kentucky |
| Basketball seasons | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15Texas A&M | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 28 | – | 9 | .757 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10Kentucky † | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 27 | – | 9 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanderbilt | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LSU | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 20 | – | 14 | .588 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 21 | – | 15 | .583 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 15 | – | 19 | .441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 11 | – | 20 | .355 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Missouri* | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| †2016 SEC tournament winner *Ineligible for postseason play due to self-imposed postseason ban. Rankings fromAP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The2015–16SEC men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015, followed by the start of the2015–16 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 the2016 SEC tournament atBridgestone Arena inNashville, Tennessee, with the tournament champion being guaranteed selection to the2016 NCAA tournament.
On March 15, 2015,Anthony Grant was fired from Alabama.[1] On April 5, 2015, ESPN reported thatAvery Johnson had verbally agreed to become the new head basketball coach at theUniversity of Alabama, replacing Grant.[2] The following day, the university officially announced Johnson's hiring.[3]
On March 21, 2015Rick Ray was fired by Mississippi State.[4] On March 24, 2015,Ben Howland was hired as the 20th head coach of Mississippi State replacing Ray.[5]
On March 27, 2015, Tennessee firedDonnie 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.[6] 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 coachRick Barnes was named Tyndall's replacement.
On April 30, 2015,Billy Donovan agreed to a $30 million, multi-year deal to coach theOklahoma City Thunder,[7] replacingScott Brooks who previously coached the Thunder for seven seasons.[8] On May 7, 2015,Louisiana Tech head coachMike White was named as Donovan's replacement.
| Media[9] | |
|---|---|
| 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
| Media[9] |
|---|
| Danuel HouseTexas A&M Damian JonesVanderbilt Skal LabissièreKentucky Stefan MoodyOle Miss Ben SimmonsLSU Tyler UlisKentucky |
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 |
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | RV | RV | |||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||||||
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||||||
| Georgia | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | AP | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 14 | 16 | 22 | 16 | 10 | |
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||
| C | 19 | 19 | 17 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | ||||||||||
| Mississippi State | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Missouri | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | AP | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 24 | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | |||||||
| C | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | ||||||
| Tennessee | AP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | AP | RV | RV | 25 | 18 | RV | 24 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 15 | RV | 21 | 20 | |||
| 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 | |||||||||||
| C | 20 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 23 | 25 | RV | |||||||||||||
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 coachFrank Haith.[10]
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 |
The conference tournament is scheduled for Wednesday–Sunday, March 9–13, 2016 at theBridgestone 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, 77–82OT |
| 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, 82–77OT |
| 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 theSEC tournament. | |||||||||
| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First round | Second round | Sweet 16 | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | West | Texas A&M | vs. #14Green Bay W, 92–65 (Oklahoma City) | vs. #11Northern Iowa W, 92–88 (Oklahoma City) | vs. #2Oklahoma L 63–77 (Anaheim) | ||||
| 4 | East | Kentucky | vs. #13Stony Brook W, 85–67 (Des Moines) | vs. #5Indiana L, 67–73 (Des Moines) | |||||
| 11 | South | Vanderbilt | vs. #11Wichita 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 |
| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina/San Diego State Quadrant | South Carolina | vs. #8High Point W, 88–66 (Columbia) | vs. #4Georgia Tech (Columbia) | |||
| 2 | Monmouth/Florida Quadrant | Florida | vs. #7North Florida W, 97–68 (Jacksonville) | vs. #3Ohio State W, 74–66 (Columbus) | vs. #4George Washington L, 77–82 (Washington D.C.) | ||
| 3 | Valparaiso/Saint Mary's Quadrant | Georgia | vs. #6Belmont W, 93–84 (Athens) | vs. #2St. Mary's L, 65–77 (Moraga) | |||
| 5 | St. Bonaventure/BYU Quadrant | Alabama | vs. #4Creighton L, 54–72 (Omaha) | ||||
| 4 Bids | W-L (%): | 3–1 .750 | 1–2 .333 | 0–1 .000 | 0–0 – | TOTAL: 4–4 .500 |
Starting on March 6, the2016 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans were released for 2015–16 season, based upon selections by the four major syndicates. The four syndicates include theAssociated Press,USBWA,NABC, andSporting News.
| AP First Team | USBWA First Team
Second Team
| NABC First Team | Sporting News First Team
Second Team
|
| 2016 SEC Men's Basketball Individual Awards[11] | ||||||
| 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[11] | ||||||
| First Team | Second Team | All-Freshman Team | All-Defensive Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael CarreraSr., F, South Carolina Jalen JonesSr., F, Texas A&M Damian Jones Jr., F, Vanderbilt Stefan MoodySr., G, Ole Miss Jamal MurrayFr., G, Kentucky Ben SimmonsFr., F, LSU Retin ObasohanSr., G, Alabama Tyler UlisSo., G, Kentucky | Wade BaldwinSo., G, Vanderbilt Alex CarusoSr., F, Texas A&M Dorian Finney-SmithSr., F, Florida J. J. FrazierSr., G, Georgia Danuel HouseSr., F, Texas A&M Moses KingsleyJr., C, Arkansas Yante MatenSo., F, Georgia Kevin PunterJr., G, Tennessee | KeVaughn AllenFlorida Antonio BlakeneyLSU Tyler DavisTexas A&M D. J. HoggTexas A&M Jamal MurrayKentucky Kevin PuryearMissouri Ben SimmonsLSU Quinndary WeatherspoonMiss. State | Alex CarusoSr., F, Texas A&M Luke KornetJr., F, Vanderbilt Moses KingsleyJr., C, Arkansas Retin ObasohanSr., G, Alabama Sindarius ThornwellJr., G, South Carolina Tyler UlisSo., G, Kentucky | |||
| †- denotes unanimous selection | ||||||