John Reed-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
The biggest Saturday of the year lived up to its billing.
Saturday’s eight games SEC slate was riveting. There were fireworks on the court all afternoon, and in the case of the Auburn-Kentucky game, even some after the final whistle had blown.
Here’s everything you may have missed during Saturday SEC hoops action.
Mark Pope sounds off after UK-Auburn thriller
Kentucky and Auburn has been one of the more underrated rivalries in the league over the past half decade. Saturday night wasn’t a battle of heavyweights and potential title contenders like it’s been in the past, but it was the best game of the day. The teams were within four points for over 35 minutes of the 40 total in game play.
Auburn wins its second straight over Kentucky for just the sixth time. The others:
2019 and 2020
1989 and 1990
1987 and 1988
1974 and 1975
1967 and 1968— Kevin Scarbinsky (@KevinScarbinsky) February 22, 2026
Auburn carried a one point lead late in the second half, but got sloppy in the final minute, losing two turnovers that allowed Kentucky to take a 74-73 lead with 15 seconds left. While inbounding the ball with the one point lead, Kentucky was whistled for a push off giving the ball back to the Tigers. On the ensuing play, Keyshawn Hall’s missed jumper led to a put back dunk from Elyjah Freeman with 1.2 seconds left. Auburn scored back-to-back wins against the Cats for the first time in six years and just the second time in 36 years.
Afterwards, Mark Pope was caught on a hot mic after the postgame presser yelling “Those Mother F****** will try to fine me but I didn’t say a word about how they cheated us.” It was Kentucky’s third loss in a row, their first three game losing streak this season.
Mark Pope immediately after leaving the podium following Kentucky’s loss at Auburn:
“Mitch, If those MFers try to fine me, screw ‘em. Because I did not say a word about how they cheated us.”
🎥: @mikegittens
pic.twitter.com/RkGSIyjmbz— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) February 22, 2026
SEC takes the lead in Bracketology
Several teams came into Saturday desperately needing to get a win to bolster their bracket resumé or stay in the projected field. Georgia, Texas A&M, Missouri and Auburn all found themselves on the No. 10 or No. 11 seed lines. Three of those four teams won, with Missouri being the only one to lose in a tough eight point loss at No. 20 Arkansas.
Thanks to the three wins, all four teams stayed in the field giving the SEC 11 projected teams in the 68 team tournament according to Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology. That gives the SEC the most of any conference in the country for the first time since the start of the new year.
Here’s a look at the latest projections with the actual projected seedings coming out later this afternoon.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 22, 2026
The biggest takeaway here is that Florida moved up to the No. 9 overall ranking which puts them on the doorstep of a two seed. There were only two SEC teams with top four seeds, but three teams (Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt) were all listed as the next teams out.
Keeping inventory
Yesterday was a very blah day for our overall picks thanks to Matt McMahon and LSU calling four timeouts in the final 1:04 of a ten point game to lose by seven. The line of course was 7.5. LSU-Alabama proved to be a heartbreaker for some gamblers as the spread, team totals, and game total all came within a half point of the lines. All of them.
In some positive news, the lock of the week improved to 7-1 on the season, as Missouri covered their 10.5 spread at Arkansas, only losing by eight.
More SEC News
