2018 SEC Tournament Odds: Kentucky Trails Auburn, Tennessee on Betting Lines

The Kentucky Wildcats (21-10) find themselves in unfamiliar territory this season, sitting as the fourth seed in this week's SEC tournament in St. Louis. Each of the past three seasons, the Wildcats have gone on to win the event, and they will look for a fourth straight title as the +400 co-third choice (bet $100 to win $400) on the 2018 SEC tournament odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

Kentucky went 10-8 in conference play this year, the school's worst mark under head coach John Calipari. The Wildcats, back at +4000 on the 2018 NCAA tournament odds, entered the SEC tournament as the top seed two of the previous three seasons (2015 and 2017) and the second seed two years ago.

But in 2018, Bruce Pearl's Auburn Tigers (25-6) are the top seed and the favorites to win the conference tournament at +300 followed by Rick Barnes' second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers (23-7) at +380. Auburn and Tennessee both finished 13-5 in SEC games this season, with the Tigers winning the lone meeting between them 94-84 as five-point road underdogs on January 2 to earn the No. 1 seed in this tournament.

The Volunteers may have a tougher draw in the bracket, with a potential matchup against the third-seeded Florida Gators (20-11) looming in the semifinals. The Gators went 11-7 in the SEC, and they are riding a three-game winning streak into the tournament, beating Auburn and Kentucky at home and the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road. Like the Wildcats, Florida is also +400 on the college basketball lines to win the tournament for the first time since 2014.

One sleeper team to watch closely is the fifth-seeded Missouri Tigers (20-11), who are expected to get prized freshman Michael Porter Jr. back for the tournament. Porter, the son of Missouri assistant coach Michael Sr., was the second-best recruit in the nation coming into this season, per 247Sports. He has been hyped as a potential lottery pick in this year's NBA draft.

Per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, Porter would like to play after undergoing back surgery on November 21, and he has been practicing with the team recently. The Tigers are listed at +1200 to win the tournament and might be worth a wager with Porter returning. They could face Kentucky in the quarterfinals on Friday.

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