Future Picks: Southeastern Conference
The SEC is a conference that has been great in recent memory when you think of college basketball. Some of today’s top stars in the NBA have gone to SEC schools. Names include Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Khris Middleton, Bam Adebayo, Bradley Beal among many more NBA players. If you are big into knowing and remembering where players went to school, you will notice a bunch of today’s stars went to Kentucky. That is because of how John Calipari does things, the majority of those players were one and done when it came to playing at school. This year Calipari has fully retooled his team, and boy do they look like they could be a whole lot of fun to see this year. With that being said here are the odds for the winner of the SEC title.
The Odds:
Kentucky +170
Tennessee +265
LSU +400
Florida +700
Arkansas +1200
South Carolina +1500
Alabama +2000
Auburn +4000
Missouri +4000
Ole Miss +5000
Texas A&M +10000
Georgia +15000
Mississippi State +20000
Vanderbilt +30000
We have a favorite, and then teams that could upset them along the way. Here is who I have as my winner of the SEC and which team I think brings the best value.
Winner:
Kentucky +170
I mentioned it earlier and I did a blog about them in the past. The Kentucky Wildcats will be your SEC Champions this season and here is why. I understand that the Wildcats are losing a bunch from last season, but the talent they are bringing in this season looks very good. Kentucky brings in the number one recruiting class, and have some solid transfers that can make an immediate impact for them. With that being said why don’t we take a look at what their starting five could look like.
In the back court the Wildcats should have Devin Askew, BJ Boston, and Terrence Clarke to go along with Keion Brooks and Olivier Sarr in the front court. Sarr is a transfer from Wake Forest that is going to help Kentucky tremendously this season. The Wildcats are also bringing in an experienced guard in Davion Mintz from Creighton. He will help this team especially if Devin Askew gets off to a slow start. They still have freshman recruits coming off the bench in Isaiah Jackson, Lance Ware and Cam’Ron Fletcher. This team is going to be very good and I wouldn’t want to play them now and especially in March.
Best Value:
Florida +700
This Florida team is only losing two pieces from a season ago, and their young guys will look to take a huge step forward this season. The Gators lose Kerry Blackshear and Andrew Nembhard, but they also get some solid transfers coming in. Getting Tyree Appleby from Cleveland State and Anthony Duruji from Louisiana Tech is big time for this Gators team. They have a starting five that has played together, and you add those two transfers who can score the ball on the bench. Boy the Gators are going to be good this year. With that being said here is what their starting five should look like.
In their backcourt they have Tre Mann, Noah Locke, and Scottie Lewis to go along with Keyontae Johnson Jr. and Omar Payne in the front court. Johnson Jr. is going to be a force in the SEC this season. I think he will be in the conversation for SEC Player of the Year. This is the year that the Gators are going to live up to the expectations. Their ceiling is very high and the last couple of seasons they haven’t lived up to those expectations. I strongly believe this is the year and I love Florida’s value here for a potential SEC Champions bet.
Predictions:
1.) Kentucky
2.) Florida
3.) LSU
4.) Tennessee
5.) Arkansas
6.) Alabama
7.) Auburn
8.) Ole Miss
9.) South Carolina
10.) Missouri
11.) Texas A&M
12.) Georgia
13.) Mississippi State
14.) Vanderbilt
Now that we have all the power conference predictions out, stay tuned later this week as I will give my early season predictions on what teams will make the NCAA tournament this season.
-Chris Jones (@cjoneswho1212)