SEC Tournament Odds and Picks

The SEC Tournament has notoriously been dominated by the Kentucky Wildcats who’ve cut down the nets a whopping 31 times since the tourney came into existence all the way back in 1933. Though there was a lull from 1953-78, KY Jelly continued its dominance when it picked back up in 1979 by capturing 18 of the 42 made available titles. Guess what, DraftKings Sportsbook expects the overall tally to increase to 32 with John Calipari’s Cats currently installed the odds on favorite to be the last team standing come Sunday afternoon; regardless of it not winning the regular season title. That honor went to the Auburn Tigers who sealed the deal with an 82-71 non-covering win against South Carolina in the finale. As much a baller Jabari Smith has proven to be, I’m just not buying the Tigers as being the team to beat in this tourney as poorly it closed the year out for those attacking the college basketball betting odds (2-7 ATS L/9). I also hate Auburn’s draw with it likely to run up against Florida/Texas A&M in the quarters followed by either LSU/Arkansas in the semis; that’s tough! KY Jelly’s draw is much easier to stomach. Honestly, Kentucky is the best team in this conference bar none when 100 percent healthy. That looks to be the case right now. Everyone else is just playing to be the runner-up. Regardless, here are my favorite, underdog, and longshot selections to win the SEC tournament.

SEC Tournament Odds at DraftKings Sportsbook

Kentucky +190

Auburn +260

Tennessee +330

Arkansas +750

LSU +1000

Alabama +1500

Florida +4000

Mississippi State +5000

Texas A&M +7000

South Carolina +10000

Vanderbilt +25000

Ole Miss/Missouri/Georgia +50000

Favorite to Bet: Kentucky Wildcats +190

The Wildcats lost a grand total of four games in SEC play. The first occurred back on January 4 to the LSU Tigers in a game Kentucky lost Sahvir Wheeler minutes into the game. The second occurred three weeks later at Auburn where they dropped an 80-71 decision as 3-point dogs with TyTy Washington succumbing to an early injury. Loss No. 3 went down in Tennessee on February 15 when TyTy Washington was once again knocked out of the game. And finally, the fourth occurred just a few weeks back when the team dropped a 75-73 decision in Arkansas. Both TyTy and Wheeler returned from injuries for that one. Most will remember Washington’s last second 3-ball that broke the forced Hog backers to rip up their tickets. Do you see the common denominator for all four defeats? Let me spell it out for you if you can’t; Kentucky wasn’t 100 percent. Players were either forced from the respective games or were just returning from injury. I’ve said it from day one and will say it again – nobody is beating this team in a tournament setting if all the pertinent pieces are in place. From Oscar Tshiebwe dominating the paint, Kellan Grady letting it fly from deep, and possessing arguably the best guard play in the country (when healthy), Kentucky is the full package. If you haven’t added the Wildcats to your Big Dance betting portfolio, do it now! Also snag a taste at nearly 2-1 to win the SEC.

Underdog to Bet: Tennessee Volunteers +330

Though the Vols left a bad taste in their supporter’s mouths in the regular season finale against Arkansas, don’t let that sway you from taking a flier on Rick Barnes’ troops. Having been forced to swallow the bitter taste of defeat only once in their last 10 games (5-5 ATS), the Volunteers invade Amalie Arena one of the hottest teams in the conference. Ranked No. 12 overall by the Pomeroy Ratings, Tennessee marches a championship caliber defense onto the hardwood every passing game. It ranks No. 3 in efficiency and allows just over 63 points per game (No. 33). The 74 points allowed to the Hogs in the finale marked the first in eight games that an opponent eclipsed the 70-point plateau; and it took an incredible second half surge by Arkansas to get the job done (45 points). Kennedy Chandler (13.7 PPG) and Santiago Vescovi (13.5 PPG/3.1 APG) are the lifeblood of the offense, while youngster Zakai Ziegler continues to make his mark. That being said, this offense routinely goes into scoring droughts. Case in point the finale against Arkansas in which they totaled 50 first half points and only 28 over the final 20. Now don’t get me wrong; this team still has the prowess at both ends to make life miserable for all that stand in its way. The defense is suffocating and offense fun to watch when humming. The draw is fantastic too with it to square off against either of Miss State or South Carolina before a likely semis throw down with Kentucky. The rivals split their pair of meetings. As such, it’s worth taking a flier on the other dominator in what I deem to be the easier side of the bracket.

Longshot to Bet: Texas A&M Aggies +7000

Needing to get by Florida, Auburn, LSU or Arkansas just to punch a ticket to the finals won’t be easy. It’s highly likely one of those four teams ultimately represents the top half of the bracket in the finals, but I simply can’t pass up on the line value currently being offered up with a scorching hot Aggies team. The 70-1 offering is actually down from the 100-1 impost that initially hit the board! Regardless, Texas A&M closed the regular season out with four straight wins against Georgia (91-77), @Ole Miss (76-66), @Alabama (87-71), and Mississippi State (67-64). Buzz Williams has got the offense “buzzing” right now, and that’s something I’ll look to take advantage of right from their opener against Florida. This is a team with wins already in tow against Notre Dame, Arkansas, as well as the aforementioned Gators and Crimson Tide. Who’s to say this team can’t get hot and spring a couple upsets much like bracket busters of year’s past? At such an attractive rate of return, it’s certainly worth throwing some pizza money on just to find out!