We’re nearing the midpoint of the college basketball regular season, and the intrigue is heating up in the nation’s top conference, the SEC.
Below we break down No. 8 Tennessee’s current futures odds for the SEC regular season title and the overall national championship as January comes to a close.
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College basketball futures odds: Vols have sixth-best odds to win stacked SEC
No matter whose set of conference rankings you’re looking at, you’re sure to find the Southeastern Conference ensconced at the top.
The SEC is positively stacked with 10 of the 16 teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 poll. Four of those ranked teams are inside the top 10, including No. 1-ranked Auburn (19-1 as of Thursday afternoon) and No. 8 Tennessee (17-4).
Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers also sit atop the current SEC standings at 7-0 in conference play, having reeled off 12 consecutive wins overall.
No. 4 Alabama (18-3, 7-1) is hot on Auburn’s heels with No. 20 Missouri (16-4, 5-2), No. 5 Florida (18-2, 5-2), No. 13 Texas A&M (16-5, 5-3) and No. 23 Ole Miss (16-5, 5-3) all within 2.5 games of the conference lead as well.
Coach Rick Barnes’ Volunteers (4-4 SEC) are tied for eighth after dropping three of their last four games, including back-to-back losses to Auburn and No. 12 Kentucky.
As for the SEC regular season title odds at the top online sportsbooks, Tennessee as of Thursday afternoon, had the sixth-best consensus odds at +5630.
Auburn is the current heavy favorite at a consensus -145 with Alabama (+460), Florida (+1650), Kentucky (+2450) and Texas A&M (+5600) rounding out the top five.
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College basketball futures odds: SEC teams among national championship favorites
In ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s Jan. 28 Bracketology projections for the 68-team NCAA Tournament, a whopping 13 SEC teams were in the field. Only two other conferences — the Big Ten (9) and Big 12 (8) — had more than five.
Leading the way were No. 1 seeds Auburn (South Region) and Alabama (Midwest) with Florida (East) and Tennessee (West) drawing No. 2 seeds. Kentucky was projected as a No. 3 seed while Texas A&M and No. 14 Mississippi State (16-5, 4-4) were on the No. 4 line.
As for the current sportsbook-consensus odds to win the national championship in April, No. 2 Duke (17-2) of the ACC is the favorite at +570 odds, followed by No. 6 Houston (16-3) of the Big 12 at +1015, Auburn at +1095, Alabama +1275 and No. 3 Iowa State of the Big 12 at +1300.
Next, with the sixth-best current national title odds, is Tennessee at a consensus +1950.
The Vols also have the seventh-best consensus Final Four odds at +420 as they chase the program’s first national semifinal appearance. Tennessee has made it as far as the NCAA tourney regional finals/Elite Eight twice, including last March when the Dalton Knecht-led Vols fell to eventual national runner-up Purdue 72-66 in the Midwest bracket.
