It’s the most wonderful time of the year, as March Madness is here…and it is spectacular. Today, the SEC joins the Champ Week action, as the 2026 SEC Tournament tips-off in Nashville at 11:00 AM CST with 9th-seeded Kentucky playing 16th-seeded LSU. CB covered the overall schedule for the week the other day, and I’ll shamelessly copy and paste his gorgeous rendering of the bracket below:
Top shelf work there, CB.
We’ll obviously have more on Alabama’s opponent come Friday once we know who it is, but
we wanted to provide the faithful readers of RBR with a quick primer on what to expect this week ahead of the opening tip today (all odds below provided by FanDuel).
The Favorites
- Florida Gators -180
For the second year in a row, Todd Golden’s Florida Gators are playing as well as anybody in the country at the right time, as they are currently riding an 11-game winning streak – the 3rd longest active streak in college basketball. The guard play isn’t quite where it was a season ago – at least not from an offensive perspective – but the Florida frontcourt is one of the best I’ve ever seen, with all three starters (Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu) finding a place on an All-SEC team. Chinyelu was also named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, guard Urban Klavchar was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year, and, of course, Golden was given SEC Coach of the Year.
Unfortunately, the Gators are back to being the class of the conference. They are heavily favored to repeat as SEC Tournament Champs, something that hasn’t been accomplished since Kentucky won three straight tournament titles from 2015-17. And barring a stunning one-and-done appearance, Florida will yet again be a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is unveiled on Sunday.
The Contenders
- Arkansas Razorbacks +600
- Alabama Crimson Tide +750
- Vanderbilt Commodores +1200
- Tennessee Volunteers +1700
With that being said, the one-seed in the SEC Tournament hasn’t been very successful in recent years. Unless you are Alabama, of course. Auburn went 1-2 combined between 2022 and 2025 as the top seed in the field, 2024 Tennessee got stunned by Mississippi State in their one and only SEC Tournament game, 2019 LSU got clipped by Florida in a one-and-done appearance, etc. So, who could take advantage of such a misstep from the top-seeded Gators?
Obviously, I’ll start with the Tide. Alabama has been playing its best ball of the season over the past month, having only lost once since it met with Florida on February 1st. Arkansas is basically a mirror image of the Tide in roster makeup, and SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff is expected to play after sitting out the final game of the season this past weekend against Missouri. These are the clear-cut best SEC teams outside of Gainesville, in my opinion. I said as much prior to their meeting in Tuscaloosa, which ended up being the Game of the Year in the conference. If you are looking for an alternative to the Gators this week, or a sleeper Final Four team next week, look no further than these two proud SEC programs.
Vandy is interesting. They have a couple of legitimately great two-way guards in SEC 1st-Teamer Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles. They really lack much on the interior though, which is a major problem against the Gators. The advanced metrics love the ‘Dores, but my (incredibly accurate) eye-test has never been blown away by this team as a whole. Tennessee is likely going to be without projected lottery pick, Nate Ament, who is still recovering from a knee injury he sustained when the Tide stunned the Vols in Knoxville a few weeks back. If he’s out, you are better off sending me any money you’d consider throwing on Tennessee. I’m not sure how great the Vols are even with him healthy.
Dark Horses
- Georgia Bulldogs +3500
- Kentucky Wildcats +4500
- Texas A&M Aggies +5000
Three flawed, but dangerous, NCAA Tournament locks make up this tier. Georgia can really score the basketball (as Alabama learned the hard way) and is probably the best pick if you are looking for a longshot to make a deep run at playing on Sunday. But outside of their penchant for blocks, the defense is really not good, and they are horrible on the glass, even despite having some good size down low. Their insistence on selling out for blocked shots can really backfire.
Kentucky and Texas A&M just don’t inspire a lot of confidence. Mark Pope has already found himself on the hotseat in Lexington, and while Bucky McMillan has done a fantastic job getting his team to be competitive, it simply isn’t a great roster. The Wildcats also have probably the toughest path to a title, as LSU – despite the finish in seeding – is honestly a better team than a few others playing on Wednesday, Mizzou is a tough match-up for the ‘Cats, and then they would have to beat a rested Florida team just to get to Saturday.
Interesting Longshots
- Texas Longhorns +10000
- Missouri Tigers +10000
- Oklahoma Sooners +12500
There’s almost always one team that plays deeper into the SEC Tournament than anticipated. They might not make a serious run at cutting down the nets, but a semifinal appearance on Saturday? Definitely doable. Missouri is a really solid team with some good bigs and decent guards, and they did actually beat Florida back at the beginning of January. But I wouldn’t hold my breath that this Tiger team can actually do that a second time.
Texas and Oklahoma are intriguing, though. The Longhorns honestly have one of the best starting fives in the conference, and when they actually buy-in on the defensive end of the court – like they did against Alabama a couple of months ago – they are extremely dangerous. That’s been a major ‘if’ though. The Sooners are quietly getting hot at the right time, as OU won four-straight to close out the season and silently slid their way back into the bubble conversation for the NCAA Tournament. They have a couple of guards who can really score the basketball.
Most importantly, they both are on the opposite side of the bracket as Florida.
The Rest
- Auburn Tigers +15000
- Mississippi State Bulldogs +30000
- Ole Miss Rebels +30000
- LSU Tigers +30000
- South Carolina Gamecocks +35000
Save your money and time, friends. I think LSU could give Kentucky a scare in the opener today, and somebody has to win the Auburn-Mississippi State game, but these five teams are a lost cause. Maybe Auburn can muck things up for a few rounds and advance, but that team looks like they’ve quit.
It should be another fun week in Nashville. Enjoy March Madness while it lasts, folks!
Visit College Basketball Odds: NCAA Men’s Lines & Spreads | FanDuel for more information and to place your wagers.
