2026 SEC Tournament Preview and Odds
It’s probably the most great time of the yr, as March Madness is right here…and it’s spectacular. Today, the SEC joins the Champ Week motion, because the 2026 SEC Tournament tips-off in Nashville at 11:00 AM CST with Ninth-seeded Kentucky enjoying Sixteenth-seeded LSU. CB covered the overall schedule for the week the opposite day, and I’ll shamelessly copy and paste his attractive rendering of the bracket under:
Top shelf work there, CB.
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We’ll clearly have extra on Alabama’s opponent come Friday as soon as we all know who it’s, however we wished to offer the devoted readers of RBR with a fast primer on what to anticipate this week forward of the opening tip right now (all odds under offered by FanDuel).
The Favorites
For the second yr in a row, Todd Golden’s Florida Gators are enjoying in addition to anyone within the nation on the proper time, as they’re at present driving an 11-game successful streak – the third longest energetic streak in school basketball. The guard play is not fairly the place it was a season in the past – a minimum of not from an offensive perspective – however the Florida frontcourt is without doubt one of the finest I’ve ever seen, with all three starters (Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu) discovering a spot on an All-SEC group. Chinyelu was additionally named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, guard Urban Klavchar was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year, and, after all, Golden was given SEC Coach of the Year.
Unfortunately, the Gators are again to being the category of the convention. They are closely favored to repeat as SEC Tournament Champs, one thing that hasn’t been achieved since Kentucky received three straight match titles from 2015-17. And barring a shocking one-and-done look, Florida will but once more be a one-seed within the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is unveiled on Sunday.
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The Contenders
Alabama Crimson Tide +750
Vanderbilt Commodores +1200
Tennessee Volunteers +1700
With that being mentioned, the one-seed within the SEC Tournament hasn’t been very profitable in recent times. Unless you’re Alabama, after all. Auburn went 1-2 mixed between 2022 and 2025 as the highest seed within the area, 2024 Tennessee bought shocked by Mississippi State of their one and solely SEC Tournament sport, 2019 LSU bought clipped by Florida in a one-and-done look, and so forth. So, who may make the most of such a misstep from the top-seeded Gators?
Obviously, I’ll begin with the Tide. Alabama has been enjoying its finest ball of the season over the previous month, having solely misplaced as soon as because it met with Florida on February 1st. Arkansas is principally a mirror picture of the Tide in roster make-up, and SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff is predicted to play after sitting out the ultimate sport of the season this previous weekend in opposition to Missouri. These are the clear-cut finest SEC groups outdoors of Gainesville, in my view. I mentioned as a lot previous to their assembly in Tuscaloosa, which ended up being the Game of the Year within the convention. If you’re in search of a substitute for the Gators this week, or a sleeper Final Four group subsequent week, look no additional than these two proud SEC packages.
Vandy is fascinating. They have a few legitimately nice two-way guards in SEC 1st-Teamer Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles. They actually lack quite a bit on the inside although, which is a significant drawback in opposition to the Gators. The superior metrics love the ‘Dores, however my (extremely correct) eye-test has by no means been blown away by this group as a complete. Tennessee is probably going going to be with out projected lottery decide, Nate Ament, who remains to be recovering from a knee harm he sustained when the Tide shocked the Vols in Knoxville a number of weeks again. If he is out, you’re higher off sending me any cash you’d think about throwing on Tennessee. I’m unsure how nice the Vols are even with him wholesome.
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Dark Horses
Three flawed, however harmful, NCAA Tournament locks make up this tier. Georgia can actually rating the basketball (as Alabama realized the onerous approach) and might be the most effective decide if you’re in search of a longshot to make a deep run at enjoying on Sunday. But outdoors of their penchant for blocks, the protection is actually not good, and they’re horrible on the glass, even regardless of having some good dimension down low. Their insistence on promoting out for blocked photographs can actually backfire.
Kentucky and Texas A&M simply do not encourage a variety of confidence. Mark Pope has already discovered himself on the hotseat in Lexington, and whereas Bucky McMillan has completed a incredible job getting his group to be aggressive, it merely is not an ideal roster. The Wildcats even have in all probability the hardest path to a title, as LSU – regardless of the end in seeding – is truthfully a greater group than a number of others enjoying on Wednesday, Mizzou is a troublesome match-up for the ‘Cats, and then they must beat a rested Florida group simply to get to saturday.
Interesting Longshots
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There’s nearly all the time one group that performs deeper into the SEC Tournament than anticipated. They won’t make a severe run at reducing down the nets, however a semi-final look on Saturday? Definitely doable. Missouri is a extremely stable group with some good bigs and first rate guards, and they did truly beat Florida again at first of January. But I would not maintain my breath that this Tiger group can truly do {that a} second time.
Texas and Oklahoma are intriguing, although. The Longhorns truthfully have among the finest beginning fives within the convention, and after they truly buy-in on the defensive finish of the court docket – like they did in opposition to Alabama a few months in the past – they’re extraordinarily harmful. That’s been a greater ‘if’ although. The Sooners are quietly getting sizzling on the proper time, as OU received four-straight to shut out the season and silently slid their approach again into the bubble dialog for the NCAA Tournament. They have a few guards who can actually rating the basketball.
Most importantly, they’re each on the alternative facet of the bracket as Florida.
The Rest
Mississippi State bulldogs +30000
South Carolina Gamecocks +35000
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Save your cash and time, associates. I feel LSU may give Kentucky a scare within the opener right now, and any person has to win the Auburn-Mississippi State sport, however these 5 groups are a misplaced trigger. Maybe Auburn can do a variety of issues up for a number of rounds and advance, however that group seems like they’ve stop.
It needs to be one other enjoyable week in Nashville. Enjoy March Madness whereas it lasts, of us!
Visit College Basketball Odds: NCAA Men’s Lines & Spreads | FanDuel for extra info and to position your wages.
