SEC Tournament Betting Preview: Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Florida Odds

The Texas A&M Aggies rallied down the stretch this season to forge a dead heat with Kentucky atop the SEC standings, in the process earning the top seed for this week's SEC tournament with an overtime victory over the Wildcats on Feb. 20.

Nonetheless, Kentucky remains the top choice on the odds to win the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, this week at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Throughout the regular season, it appears only the Wildcats, Aggies and perhaps South Carolina have proved themselves worthy of at-large bids to represent the SEC in next week's NCAA tournament.

Others, namely Vanderbilt and Florida, could still earn invites to March Madness with deep runs this weekend. As for the rest of this conference, winning this conference tournament is their only ticket to the NCAA tournament.

In the early action this week, Kentucky, the defending SEC tournament champion, led the betting on the SEC tournament board at a price of +100.

The Vanderbilt Commodores—who are playing the tournament in their home city, although not their home gym—rated as the second choice on the college basketball betting board at +350.

Texas A&M—which lost four games in a row back in February, then won its last six straight, including a 79-77 overtime thriller over the Wildcats—completed the top tier of the board at +375.

The Florida Gators, losers of four of their last five games, ranked as the fourth choice on the SEC board at +1000, followed by perhaps the most pleasant surprise in the SEC this season, the South Carolina Gamecocks, at +1200.

The biggest disappointment in the league this season, the LSU Tigers, were offered at +1800, while both Arkansas and Ole Miss were getting +3300 odds. That left Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Auburn as part of The Field at a price of +2000.

The SEC tournament tips off Wednesday night with a play-in game matching the Volunteers against the Auburn Tigers. Action picks up Thursday with four second-round games, followed by four quarterfinals Friday as the top four seeds jump into play.

The semifinals are set for Saturday, with the SEC tournament championship game Sunday afternoon. Four different teams—Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss and Vandy—have won the SEC tournament over the last four seasons.