After winning four of the past five SEC Tournaments and claiming the conference championship in the regular season, Kentucky had to be considered the betting favorite heading into this year's SEC Tournament. The Wildcats are perennially the team to beat with 31 SEC Tournament championships to their credit, while no other program has claimed more than six titles. However, it is interesting to look further down the SEC Tournament odds.
Although the Florida Gators are the No. 5 seed and will have to win four games in four days to win this event, they have the third-lowest odds on the board. They are considered more likely to win the conference tournament than two teams that have an additional bye, LSU and Mississippi State, and only time will tell if this was a foolish notion or a prescient belief.
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2020 SEC Tournament odds
- Kentucky +175
- Auburn +275
- Florida +350
- LSU +500
- Mississippi State +900
- Tennessee +1200
- Arkansas +2000
- Alabama +2500
- South Carolina +3300
- Texas A&M +4000
- Georgia +8000
- Missouri +8000
- Ole Miss +10000
- Vanderbilt +15000
The Wildcats won the SEC by three games, but this Kentucky team isn’t as overpowering as some of John Calipari’s previous squads. They are rated 28th in the nation per Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, and that has many analysts believing the Wildcats are vulnerable in Nashville this week.
Ashton Hagans may not play in the SEC Tournament after sitting out of the regular season finale. Hagans is reportedly dealing with anxiety issues, and there could also be some NCAA problems after a picture surfaced of Hagans flashing a huge wad of cash over the weekend. That would leave Kentucky without its primary distributor and best perimeter defender, as Hagans leads the team in assists (6.4 per game) and steals (1.9 per game).
Immanuel Quickley is Kentucky’s leading scorer and the best three-point shooter, while Nick Richards has been a force in the paint with the ball. They give the Wildcats two of the better offensive options in the nation, and this team has another edge. Unlike Calipari teams in the past, Kentucky is fantastic from the free throw line, making 79.7 percent of its free throws this season. That is tops in the nation.
Auburn continues to be one of the most difficult teams to figure out. The Tigers won their first 15 games before getting smashed by Alabama and Florida, and there is great variance with what you will get from this squad night in and night out.
The Tigers are outside the top 300 in terms of perimeter shooting, making just 30.6 percent of their threes, but their inside game is strong with Isaac Okoro and Austin Wiley thriving in the interior. Samir Doughty can take over at times too, and that will be needed in this competition since Auburn’s defense is not as strong as it has been in previous seasons.
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Florida was one of the most disappointing teams of the season. The Gators were expected to challenge Kentucky for the SEC title with grad transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. leading the way, but they finished outside the top four and will have to play either Ole Miss or Georgia on Thursday afternoon.
Blackshear could miss the SEC Tournament due to a wrist injury, and his absence would affect the CBB betting odds for Florida games. He is one of the most productive players on the team, and defenses could focus on Keyontae Johnsonin the paint without Blackshear’s ability to stretch the floor. That does not make the Gators a tantalizing bet at +350.
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Tennessee might have finished 9-9 in the conference, but the Volunteers have been given a decent chance to make some noise in Nashville. The Vols will have something of a home court advantage with the venue relatively close to Knoxville, and they finished the regular season with victories over Florida and Kentucky in two of their last three games.
Rick Barnes has the Volunteers playing strong interior defense, but there are major worries when this team has the ball. Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner have both been awful from three-point range, and John Fulkerson and Yves Pons can only do so much themselves.
The other interesting thing to note in these odds is the current price on Arkansas. The Razorbacks are the No. 11 seed and will have to win five games in five days, but they only have odds of 20-1 to win the SEC Tournament.