With the regular season complete, postseason play begins today with the Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament. The tournament will be held in Greenville, S.C., at the Bi-Lo Center for the first time in conference history. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to this year’s NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt returns to the tournament to defend its 2004 championship after defeating Georgia in last season’s title game. Four games are featured in the tournament’s first day of competition. The SEC’s top four teams all received first round byes. The tournament’s top seed, No. 1 LSU, heads into the tournament with a 14-game winning streak. Coach Pokey Chatman said the recent momentum is a plus for LSU. “We are excited with some of the momentum that we are bringing in,” Chatman said. “We have been playing some good basketball. It will allow us to be focused no matter who we play.” Led by junior Seimone Augustus, who earned the 2005 Conference Player of the Year honor on Wednesday, LSU (27-1, 14-0 SEC) will look for its third-ever tournament title after sweeping through the conference season and earning the regular season title. Meanwhile, all-time SEC Tournament champion leader Tennessee (23-4, 13-1 SEC) heads into the tournament as the No. 2 seed. Tennessee leads all conference teams with 10 tournament championships. With just one conference loss coming at LSU earlier in the season, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said her team is prepared for the tournament. “I think our team is excited about it,” Summitt said. “I am pleased with how we have responded after our last SEC loss.” Game No. 1 — No. 8 Florida vs. No. 9 Alabama After defeating the Lady Gators in February 77-66, Alabama (13-14, 4-10 SEC) will look to get past Florida (14-13, 5-9 SEC) at noon to play No. 1 LSU on Friday. Alabama coach Rick Moody, who will retire at season’s end, said success in the tournament relies on good preparation. “The bottom line is that both teams know a lot about each other, and you will have to have people who are making shots,” Moody said. “If you make shots, you can go on a run.” Alabama is led by Marverly Nettles, who averages 12. 1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Florida’s Bernice Mosby, who ranks eighth in the conference in scoring, averages 15.5 games per contest. Game No. 2 — No. 7 Auburn vs. No. 10 Kentucky Winning six of their last eight games, Auburn (15-12, 6-8 SEC) comes to the tournament with Marita Payne, the SEC’s top shot blocker. Payne leads the conference with 5.0 blocks per game. After earning a victory over Kentucky earlier in the season, Auburn coach Nell Fortner said she is confident in her team heading into the tournament. “We played Kentucky once, and we beat them here in Auburn,” Fortner said. “To do that was a positive win for us. We will be at full strength.” Kentucky (15-14, 4-10 SEC) is led by Sara Potts at 13.7 points per game. Potts also ranks fourth in the SEC in 3-point shots made per game with 2.17. The winner of the Auburn – Kentucky matchup will face No. 2 seed Tennessee at 2:15 on Friday. Game No. 3 — No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 South Carolina South Carolina (8-20, 2-12 SEC) heads to the tournament looking to become just the third team in conference history to win a game in the conference tournament as a No. 12 seed. Despite falling to Ole Miss 57-51 last Sunday, South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said her team is coming into the tournament with momentum. “We have won two of our last three and are excited that Greenville decided to host,” Walvius said. “Our team is looking forward to that.” South Carolina will be without leading scorer Lauren Simms after spraining her knee in a Feb. 20 win over Alabama. Ole Miss (18-9, 8-6 SEC) is lead by Defensive Player of the Year Armintie Price, who averages 16.7 points per game and leads the conference in steals with 3.1 per game. Georgia will challenge either Ole Miss or South Carolina on Friday afternoon. Game No. 4 — No. 6 Mississippi State vs. No. 11 Arkansas After defeating Mississippi State 71-83 in January, Arkansas (15-12, 3-11 SEC) completed its season 4-7 on a four-game losing streak. Yet Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning said the tournament marks a new start for each team. “This is a new season for everyone, and we will have to play our best basketball and try to guard hard and block out better,” Fanning said. “All the fundamentals will be our focus, and hopefully it will be there on Thursday night.” Arkansas and Mississippi State met in the first round last season with the Lady Bulldogs knocking Arkansas out of the tournament with a 79-74 win. Senior Tan White, a First-Team All-SEC selection, leads Mississippi State (17-10, 6-8 SEC) in the tournament with 23 points per game. The Mississippi State – Arkansas winner will face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on Friday night.