Tennessee basketball begins its SEC Regular-Season Title defense on Saturday afternoon when the Vols host Arkansas in their SEC opener in Knoxville.
The Vols won their second SEC Regular-Season Championship and their first outright SEC Championship of the Rick Barnes’ era last season by posting a 14-4 conference record.
Entering conference play unbeaten and occupying the top-spot in the AP Poll, Tennessee is once again one of the top contenders to wear the crown. But what do the betting odds say?
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The Vols are +250 and have the second best odds to win the SEC according to the DraftKings Sportsbook. No. 2 Auburn is the only team with better odds, coming in at +150 to win its first conference title since the 2021-22 season.
Tennessee and Auburn have similar odds to win the SEC Championship considering the drop in odds following the Vols. Alabama is next most likely conference title winner according to the betting odds at +500 followed by Florida (+900) and Kentucky (+1100). The drop off is significant after those two with Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Texas, Arkansas and Ole Miss all coming in between +3000 and +4000.
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Analytics based websites largely see things playing out the same way as DraftKings does. KenPom predicts Aubun to win the conference with a 15-3 record followed by Tennessee (13-5), Florida (12-6), Alabama (11-7), Texas A&M (10-8) and Mississippi State (10-8).
Bart Torvik predicts Auburn to win the conference with a 15-3 record followed by Tennessee (13-5), Florida (11-7), Alabama (11-7), Kentucky (10-8) and Texas A&M (10-8).
The SEC had as good a non conference slate as any conference in recent history. The top teams in the league were dominant while the bottom teams were competitive.
Entering the start of conference play, four SEC teams are in the top 10 and nine teams are in the top 25 of the latest AP Poll. In ESPN Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology, 13 of 16 SEC teams are in the field of 68 and Missouri is his first team out.
Defending its SEC title is going to be quite the challenge for Rick Barnes and Tennessee basketball. It begins its quest on Saturday when the Vols host Arkansas. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. ET at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. ESPN is broadcasting the game.
