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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri men's basketball will be the No. 7 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Saturday's results around the league confirmed.

As a result, the first postseason game for Mizzou (21-10 overall, 10-8 Southeastern Conference) will come at 6 p.m. Thursday in Nashville against the winner of an earlier tournament game between 10-seed Mississippi State (20-11, 8-10) and 15-seed Louisiana State (14-17, 3-15). 

MU beat both Mississippi State and LSU handily during the regular season, so it will be a favorite in Nashville against either — despite a poorly-timed ongoing three-game losing streak for Missouri. 

The Tigers entered the final day of the regular season with spots five through eight in the league's standings as realistic possibilities, depending on the outcomes of several games. MU lost 91-83 to No. 19 Kentucky to finish the season 21-10 overall and 10-8 in SEC play.

That means Missouri needed to wait until Mississippi lost at No. 5 Florida later on Saturday to have its seeding confirmed.

Three SEC teams finished 10-8 in conference play: Mizzou, Kentucky and Ole Miss. 

Kentucky earned the best seed of the group because it secured the head-to-head tiebreaker over MU and beat second-place Florida while Ole Miss didn't. Missouri beat the Rebels earlier this year, which gave the Tigers the second-best seed of the trio.

Mizzou's single bye in the SEC Tournament means it'll enter directly into the second round. A win against Mississippi State or LSU wold pit MU against Florida, which holds the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinals. Missouri beat the Gators on the road during the regular season for a statement win.

Final SEC regular season standings

1. Auburn (15-3 in SEC play)

2. Florida (14-4)

3. Alabama (13-5)

4. Tennessee (12-6)

5. Texas A&M (11-7)

6. Kentucky (10-8)

7. Missouri (10-8)

8. Ole Miss (10-8)

9. Arkansas (8-10)

10. Mississippi State (8-10)

11. Georgia (8-10)

12. Vanderbilt (8-10)

13. Texas (6-12)*

14. Oklahoma (5-12)*

15. LSU (3-15)

16. South Carolina (2-16)

(*Texas and Oklahoma play Saturday night, but even with a Sooners victory the Longhorns hold the tiebreaker, locking in their positions in the standings.)