The 2019–20 Southeastern Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in early January 2020 and was scheduled to end in March, after which 14 member teams were to participate in the 2020 SEC men's basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament champion was to have been guaranteed a selection to the 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Preseason Kentucky was predicted to win the 2020 SEC championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Florida's Kerry Blackshear was the choice of the media for SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Blackshear, Edwards, Hagans, Tyree and Perry were each All-SEC First Team selections.

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

() first place votes

Preseason All-SEC teams

Media Kerry Blackshear Jr. Florida Anthony Edwards Georgia Ashton Hagans Kentucky Breein Tyree Ole Miss Reggie Perry Mississippi State Players in bold are media 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 Season at school Overall record SEC record NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsAlabama Nate Oats Buffalo 1 0–0 () 0–0 () 0 0 0Arkansas Eric Musselman Nevada 1 0–0 () 0–0 () 0 0 0Auburn Bruce Pearl Tennessee 6 100–72 () 40–50 () 2 1 0Florida Mike White Louisiana Tech 5 89–53 () 43–29 () 3 0 0Georgia Tom Crean Indiana 2 11–21 () 2–16 () 0 0 0Kentucky John Calipari Memphis 11 305–71 () 136–38 () 9 4 1LSU Will Wade VCU 3 43–20 () 23–12 () 1 0 0Mississippi State Ben Howland UCLA 5 78–56 () 32–40 () 1 0 0Missouri Cuonzo Martin California 3 35–30 () 15–21 () 1 0 0Ole Miss Kermit Davis Middle Tennessee 2 20–13 () 10–8 () 1 0 0South Carolina Frank Martin Kansas State 8 129–106 () 56–70 () 1 1 0Tennessee Rick Barnes Texas 5 88–50 () 42–30 () 2 0 0Texas A&M Buzz Williams Virginia Tech 1 0–0 () 0–0 () 0 0 0Vanderbilt Jerry Stackhouse Memphis Grizzlies (asst.) 1 0–0 () 0–0 () 0 0 0

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalAlabama AP RV C Arkansas AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Auburn AP 24 22 19 18 14 12 12 8 8 5 4 16 C 23 23 18 17 13 10 9 8 7 5 4 16 Florida AP 6 15 RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV C 6 6 RV 25 RV RV RV RV RV Georgia AP C Kentucky AP 2 1 9 9 8 8 6 19 17 14 10 15 C 2 2 10 11 10 9 6 19 14 13 12 14 LSU AP 22 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV C 24 24 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Mississippi State AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV Missouri AP RV RV RV RV C RV Ole Miss AP C RV South Carolina AP C Tennessee AP RV RV 20 17 21 19 21 RV C 25 25 17 16 20 17 21 RV Texas A&M AP C Vanderbilt AP C

Conference matrix AlabamaArkansasAuburnFloridaGeorgiaKentuckyLSUMiss. StateMissouriOle MissS. CarolinaTennesseeTexas A&MVanderbiltvs. Alabama – 0–00–11–00–01–01–00–10–10–00–00–00–00–1vs. Arkansas0–0 – 0–00–00–01–01–01–00–00–11–00–00–10–1vs. Auburn1–00–0 – 1–00–10-00–00–10–00–10–10–00–00–1vs. Florida0–10–00–1 – 0–00-01–01–01–00–10–10–00–00–0vs. Georgia0-00–01–00–0 – 2–00–01–01–01–00–00–10–00–0vs. Kentucky0–10–10–00–00–2 – 0–00–00–10–01–00–00–00–1vs. LSU0–10–10–00–10–00–0 – 0–10–00–10–00–10–10–0vs. Miss. State1–00–11–00–10–10–01–0 – 0–10–00–00–00–00–0vs. Missouri1–00–00–00–10–11–00–01–0 – 0–00–01–01–00–0vs. Ole Miss0-01–01–01–00–10–01–00–00-0 – 0–01–01–00–0vs. South Carolina0-00–11–01–00–00–10–00–00-00–0 – 1–00–10–1vs. Tennessee0-00–00–00–01–00–01–00–00–10–10–1 – 1–00–1vs. Texas A&M0-01–00–00–00–00–01–00–00–10–11–00–1 – 0–1vs. Vanderbilt1–01–01–00–00–01–00–00–00-00–01–01–01–0 –Total4–33–45–24–31–66–17–04–32–51–64–34–34–30–7

Postseason

SEC tournament

March 11–15 at the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville. 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.

2019 SEC men's basketball tournament seeds and results Seed School Conf. Over. Tiebreaker First RoundMarch 11 Second RoundMarch 12 QuarterfinalsMarch 13 SemifinalsMarch 14 ChampionshipMarch 151. ‡Kentucky15–325–6 Bye Bye 2. †Auburn 12–625–61–0 vs. LSU Bye Bye 3. †LSU12–621–100-1 vs. Auburn Bye Bye 4. †Mississippi State11–720–111–0 vs. Florida Bye Bye 5. #Florida11–719–120–1 vs. Mississippi State Bye vs. #13 Georgia 6. #South Carolina10–818–132–0 vs. Texas A&M Bye vs. #11 Arkansas 7. #Texas A&M10–816–140–2 vs, South Carolina Bye vs. #10 Missouri 8. #Tennessee9–917–14 Bye vs. #9 Alabama 9. #Alabama8–1016–15 Bye vs. #8 Tennessee 10. #Missouri7–1115–161–0 vs. Arkansas Bye vs. #7 Texas A&M 11. Arkansas7–1119–120–1 vs. Missouri vs. #14 Vanderbilt W, 86–73 vs. #6 South Carolina 12.Ole Miss6–1115–16 vs. #13 Georgia L, 63–81 13. Georgia5–1315–16 vs. #12 Ole Miss W, 81–63 14. Vanderbilt3–1511–20 vs. #11 Arkansas L, 73–86 ‡ – 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.

Honors and awards

All-SEC Awards

Coaches

2020 SEC Men's Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Player of the Year Immanuel Quickley, KentuckyCoach of the Year John Calipari, KentuckyDefensive Player of the Year Yves Pons, TennesseeFreshman of the Year Anthony Edwards, GeorgiaScholar-Athlete of the Year Skylar Mays, LSUSixth Man Award Tyson Carter, Mississippi State

2020 SEC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team All-Freshman Team All-Defensive Team Samir Doughty Sr., G, AuburnKeyontae Johnson So., F, FloridaMason Jones Jr., G, ArkansasKira Lewis Jr. So., G, AlabamaSkylar Mays Sr., G, LSUReggie Perry So., F, Mississippi StateImmanuel Quickley So., G, KentuckyNick Richards Jr., C, KentuckyBreein Tyree Jr., G, Ole Miss Kerry Blackshear Jr. Sr., F, FloridaAnthony Edwards Fr., G, GeorgiaJohn Fulkerson Jr., F, TennesseeMaik Kotsar Sr., F, South CarolinaSaben Lee Jr., G, VanderbiltTyrese Maxey Fr., G, KentuckyIsaac Okoro Fr., F, AuburnJohn Petty Jr.Jr., G, Alabama Jermaine Couisnard South CarolinaAnthony Edwards GeorgiaScottie Lewis FloridaTyrese Maxey KentuckyIsaac Okoro AuburnScotty Pippen Jr. VanderbiltJaden Shackelford AlabamaTrendon Watford LSU Ashton Hagans So., G, KentuckyHerbert Jones Jr., F, AlabamaIsaac Okoro Fr., F, AuburnYves Pons Jr., F, TennesseeNick Richards Jr., G, Kentucky

AP 2020 SEC Men's Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)co-Player of the Year Mason Jones, ArkansasReggie Perry, Mississippi StateCoach of the Year Buzz Williams, Texas A&MNewcomer of the Year Anthony Edwards, Georgia

2020 SEC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team †Mason Jones Jr., G, ArkansasKira Lewis Jr. So., G, Alabama†Reggie Perry So., F, Mississippi StateImmanuel Quickley So., G, KentuckyNick Richards Jr., C, Kentucky Samir Doughty Sr., G, AuburnAnthony Edwards Fr., G, GeorgiaKeyontae Johnson So., F, FloridaSkylar Mays Sr., G, LSUBreein Tyree Sr., G, Ole Miss † - denotes unanimous selection

NBA draft

PG Point guard SG Shooting guard SF Small forward PF Power forward C Center

Player Team Round Pick # Position School NationalityAnthony EdwardsMinnesota Timberwolves11SGGeorgiaIsaac OkoroCleveland Cavaliers5SFAuburnKira Lewis Jr.New Orleans Pelicans13PGAlabamaAaron NesmithBoston Celtics14SFVanderbiltTyrese MaxeyPhiladelphia 76ers21PGKentuckyImmanuel QuickleyOklahoma City Thunder25SGKentuckySaben LeeUtah Jazz238PGVanderbiltRobert Woodard IIMemphis Grizzlies40SFMississippi StateNick RichardsNew Orleans Pelicans42CKentuckyIsaiah JoePhiladelphia 76ers49SGArkansasSkylar MaysAtlanta Hawks50PGLSUReggie PerryLos Angeles Clippers57PFMississippi State

References