Commissioner Greg Sankey revealed Saturday during the SEC Tournament he sent a message to league coaches about the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The message: Be flexible and ready to adjust.

The league has positioned itself to have as many as 14 bids to March Madness, though, Texas appears to be among the first out as of Saturday afternoon.

“Last year, Garth Glissman, our associate commissioner for men’s basketball, went through all the foul calls for every team for the first, second, third, fourth round into the Final Four where we had teams in the NCAA tournament,” Sankey said. “We put the data in front of our coaches. Higher foul count and higher technical foul count, which means you have to manage yourself physically and mentally.

“That’s part of the message going into next week. Manage yourself physically, emotionally and mentally.”

Sankey made the statements after Tennessee knocked off Auburn and before Alabama tipped off with Florida.

Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, as of this post, has four SEC teams among the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds:

• No. 1 seeds: Auburn, Duke, Houston, Florida
• No. 2 seeds Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan State, St. John’s   

“You’ve got at least two, I’m an optimist, maybe three 1 seeds playing here,” Sankey said of the SEC tournament. “And a 2 seed. I don’t know if that has ever happened in a conference tournament. …

“To see that play in San Antonio, would love to have SEC patches, but that would be a reward for the college basketball community to see that level of play.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.