College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Preview - SEC

The countdown to the NCAA Tournament is less than a week away, and Selection Sunday is March 15. Following last year's historic season in the SEC with a record 14 teams making March Madness, the Southeastern Conference is set to send 10-11 teams to the NCAA Tournament again this season. 

Check out the NCAA Tournament bracket by Joe Lunardi at ESPN. Last year's national champion Florida is projected as the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament ahead of the SEC conference tournament. I chip in an SEC Tournament betting guide with odds, stats, select picks and information you can bet on at Off Shore Gaming Association. 

I added conference tournament coverage in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten plus the West Coast and Mountain West conference tournaments in Las Vegas, where I attend and report on the games. A total of 43-44 teams from those conferences are projected to make it to March Madness. 

SEC

Odds to win the SEC Tournament from BetOnline and leading reduced juice sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. 

Listed in the table is each teams overall and conference records in conference tournament seed order, and offensive and defensive efficiency (OE, DE) ratings from KenPom. Also, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is a key advanced metric that measures a team's or player's efficiency, calculated as the difference between their Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 possessions) and Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). It shows how much better or worse a team performs compared to opponents. 

SEC Stats, Trends and Notes 

KenPom and Bart Torvik have Florida, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt as the three best teams in the SEC, and all three of those teams sit in the top half of the bracket. Alabama plays at a top 5 pace in the country, and both Florida and Arkansas are top 25. 

Favorites in the SEC Championship Game are 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS since 2015.

Notable players to watch include these first-team SEC selections by the conference coaches. 
 
- Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas (freshman guard, 22.2 ppg, 6.4 apg)
- Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee (senior guard, 18 ppg, 5.6 apg) 
- Thomas Haugh, Florida (junior foward, 17.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) 
- Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama (sophomore guard, 21.5 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.2 rpg) 
- Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt (sophomore guard, 19.2 ppg, 5.2 apr, 3.5 rpg) 

Second Team 

- Nate Ament, Tennessee, freshman forward 
- Rueben Chinyelu, Florida, junior center 
- Mark Mitchell, Missouri, senior guard/forward 
- Otega Oweh, Kentucky, senior guard 
- Dailyn Swain, Texas, junior guard/forward 

Florida’s Todd Golden was named SEC Coach of the Year and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. was selected as the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year. Florida’s Ruben Chinyelu earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Scholar-Athlete; Texas’ Dailyn Swain was voted SEC Newcomer of the Year and Florida’s Urban Klavzar was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year, all voted on by SEC head coaches.
 
Stat leaders from all games this season: 

- Scoring offense: Alabama (92.1 ppg), Georgia (90.4), Arkansas (90.2), Texas A&M (88.5), Florida (87.7), Vanderbilt (86.9)  
- FG% offense: Arkansas (50.3%), Missouri (49.1), Texas (49.1), Florida (48.2), Vanderbilt (47.9), Georgia (47.5), 
- 3-point offense: Arkansas (38.3%), Oklahoma (37.2), Texas A&M (36.5), Alabama (35.9), Vanderbilt (35.4), Texas (35.3).    
- Scoring defense: Tennessee (69.4 ppg), Florida (71.7), Kentucky (74.1), Vanderbilt (75.0), Missouri (75.3)  
- FG% defense: Florida (40.6%), Tennessee (41.1), Vanderbilt (42.5), Kentucky (42.5), Alabama (43.2), Missouri (43.4), Georgia (43.8)
- 3-point defense: Tennessee (30.4%), South Carolina (31.4), Vanderbilt (31.4), Arkansas (31.5), Texas A&M (31.9), Kentucky (31.9), Florida (32.20 
- Rebounding margin: Florida (+14.3), Tennessee (+13.3), Texas (+7.6), Kentucky (+4.2), Missouri (+3.4), Auburn (+3.4)

Florida (+16.0) leads the SEC in scoring margin followed by Vanderbilt (+11.8), Georgia (+11.1), Tennessee (+10.7) and Arkansas (+10.2). Blocked shot leaders are Georgia (+6.2), Arkansas (+5.2), Florida (+5.1), Alabama (+5.1) and Vanderbilt (+4.7). Assist leaders per game are Texas A&M (18.3), Tennessee (17.1), Arkansas (17.1), Florida (16.9), Vanderbilt (16.4) and Alabama (16.2). The top team's in steals are Georgia, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M all with 8.2 per game. The best free throw shooting teams are Vanderbilt (78.3%), South Carolina (78.2) and Alabama (76.9). The 3-point attempt leaders are Alabama (35/game), Texas A&M (30) and Georgia (28) with Alabama making an an average of 12.7 three-point shots per game followed by Texas A&M (10.9) and Georgia and Oklahoma (9.8).  

SEC Tournament Schedule 

March 11-15, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
First and Second Round: March 11-12
Quarterfinals: March 13
Semifinals: March 14
Finals: March 15 - 1 p.m. ET on ESPN 

Matchups and Odds 

Wed., March 11 

Game 1: No. 8 Kentucky (-8.5) vs. No. 16 LSU
Game 2: No. 12 Auburn (-7.5) vs. No. 13 Mississippi State
Game 3: No. 10 Texas (-6) vs. No. 15 Ole Miss
Game 4: No. 11 Oklahoma (-8) vs. No. 14 South Carolina 

Thurs., March 12  

Game 5: No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Kentucky (-3.5)
Game 6: No. 5 Tennessee (-5) vs. No. 12 Auburn
Game 7: No. 7 Georgia (-5.5) vs. No. 15 Ole Miss
Game 8: No. 6 Texas A&M (-3.5) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma 

Fri., March 13 - Quarterfinals 

Game 9: No. 1 Florida vs. Game 5 winner
Game 10: No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. Game 6 winner 
Game 11: No. 2 Alabama vs. Game 7 winner 
Game 12: No. 3 Arkansas vs. Game 8 winner

Sat., March 14 - Semifinals 

Game 13: Winners games 9, 10
Game 14: Winners games 11, 12

Sun, March 15 - Championship, 1 p.m. ET on ESPN 

Semfinal winners 

Check back daily for college basketball and conference tournament updates including matchups, odds, stats and select picks with information you can bet on. 

FairwayJay is a leading sports betting industry analyst, handicapper, content creator, writer, reporter and poker player. He's been covering major sports from a betting perspective for more than two decades from Las Vegas. FairwayJay is also on the scene for major sports and poker events plus industry conferences as a credentialed media member. Follow @FairwayJay on X and OSGA for more betting insight and information you can bet on.