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The 2009 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament returns to the Sunshine State for the second time in the tournament's illustrious history as the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., plays host to the event.
The St. Pete Times Forum, a world-class facility with basketball seating configuration of 21,655, served as the site of the 2008 Women's Final Four, the first and second rounds of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in addition to several regular season basketball events. Additionally, the building also serves as the home of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning and the AFL's Tampa Bay Storm.
The winner of the 11-game tournament receives the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament seeds, conference championship and division titles are determined by the 16-game conference schedule during the regular season. Teams are seeded by their divisional finish and features Eastern Division-Western Division matchups in every game should the higher seed win each contest.
Atlanta served as host of the inaugural SEC Tournament played following the 1932-33 season and did so again after the 1933-34 season. The event was held every year through 1952, with the exception of 1935. After a 26-year layoff (1953-78), the tournament was renewed in 1979. The 2008 tournament will be the 49th in league history and the 30th since the renewal.
The SEC has shown extraordinary balance in the tournament, evidenced by the fact that a different school won the first seven titles after the renewal. The event has helped set the stage for SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament, as 22 of the last 28 tournament champions have advanced to at least the Sweet 16 with five of the last 12 going on to win the national championship. Since the renewal in 1979, the SEC Tournament Champion has failed to win at least one NCAA Tournament game only three times.
Kentucky leads the league with 25 SEC Tournament titles. Alabama is second with six, while Tennessee ranks third with four, Florida three, and both Georgia and Mississippi State have two championship trophies each. Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and former league member Georgia Tech have each won one SEC Tournament championship.
2009 SEC TOURNAMENT March 12-15 * St. Pete Times Forum * Tampa, Fla.
Future SEC Tournament Dates & Sites 2010 March 11-14 Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tenn. 2011 March 10-13 Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga. 2012 March 8-11 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, La.