The 2020–21 Southeastern Conference men's basketball season began with practices in November 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 25. Conference play started in late December and will end in March, after which 14 member teams will participate in the 2021 SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament champion is guaranteed a selection to the 2021 NCAA tournament.

The season was initially slated to begin on November 10, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prematurely ended the previous season and continues to affect the current one.

Preseason Tennessee was predicted to win the 2021 SEC championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Florida's Keyontae Johnson was the choice of the media for SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year.

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

Preseason All-SEC teams Media Keyontae Johnson, Florida John Petty Jr., Alabama BJ Boston, Kentucky Trendon Watford, LSU John Fulkerson, Tennessee

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 2 16–15 () 8–10 () 0 0 0Arkansas Eric Musselman Nevada 2 20–12 () 7–11 () 0 0 0Auburn Bruce Pearl Tennessee 7 125–78 () 52–56 () 2 1 0Florida Mike White Louisiana Tech 6 108–65 () 54–36 () 3 0 0Georgia Tom Crean Indiana 3 27–37 () 7–29 () 0 0 0Kentucky John Calipari Memphis 12 330–77 () 151–41 () 9 4 1LSU Will Wade VCU 4 64–30 () 35–18 () 1 0 0Mississippi State Ben Howland UCLA 6 98–67 () 43–47 () 1 0 0Missouri Cuonzo Martin California 4 50–46 () 22–32 () 1 0 0Ole Miss Kermit Davis Middle Tennessee 3 35–30 () 16–20 () 1 0 0South Carolina Frank Martin Kansas State 9 147–119 () 66–78 () 1 1 0Tennessee Rick Barnes Texas 6 105–64 () 51–39 () 2 0 0Texas A&M Buzz Williams Virginia Tech 2 16–14 () 10–8 () 0 0 0Vanderbilt Jerry Stackhouse Memphis Grizzlies (asst.) 2 11–21 () 3–15 () 0 0 0

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   AlabamaArkansasAuburnFloridaGeorgiaKentuckyLSUMississippi StateMissouriOle MissSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexas A&MVanderbiltvs. Alabama – 1–10–20–10–20–20–20–21–00–10–10–10–00–1vs. Arkansas1–1 – 0–20–10–10–11–10–11–10–10–11–00–10–1vs. Auburn2–02–0 – 1–01–11–11–00–10–12–00–10–11–00–1vs. Florida1–01–00–1 – 0–21–10–11–01–00–11–01–10–00–2vs. Georgia2–01–01–12–0 – 0–11–11–00–10–22–01–00–00–1vs. Kentucky2–01–01–11–11–0 – 0–10–11–01–00–11–10–00–2vs. LSU2–01–10–11–01–11–0 – 0–10–10–10–10–10–20–1vs. Miss. State2–01–01–00–10–11–01–0 – 0–11–10–21–01–11–1vs. Missouri0–11–11–00–11–00–11–01–0 – 2–00–21–10–10–0vs. Ole Miss1–01–00–21–02–00–11–01–10–2 – 0–10–10–11–1vs. South Carolina1–01–01–00–10–21–01–02–02–01–0 – 1–00–11–0vs. Tennessee1–00–11–01–10–11–11–00–11–11–00–1 – 0–10–2vs. Texas A&M0–01–00–10–00–00–02–01–11–01–01–01–0 – 0–0vs. Vanderbilt1–01–01–02–01–02–01–01–10–01–10–12–00–0 – Total16–213–47–119–77–118–911–68–108–810–84–1210–72–83–13

NBA draft

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

Player Team Round Pick # Position School NationalityJoshua PrimoSan Antonio Spurs112SGAlabamaMoses MoodyGolden State Warriors14SGArkansasTre MannOklahoma City Thunder18PGFloridaKeon JohnsonNew York Knicks21SGTennesseeIsaiah JacksonLos Angeles Lakers22C/PFKentuckyCam ThomasBrooklyn Nets27SGLSUJaden SpringerPhiladelphia 76ers28SGTennesseeHerbert JonesNew Orleans Pelicans235SFAlabamaJT ThorDetroit Pistons37PFAuburnSharife CooperAtlanta Hawks48PGAuburnBrandon Boston Jr.Memphis Grizzlies51SGKentuckyScottie LewisCharlotte Hornets56SGFlorida

References