Sure, the game between No. 4 Kentucky and No. 16 Tennessee airing on ESPN on Tuesday night will dominate the SEC headlines, but the other three ranked teams will look to keep on winning and attempt to prove that there is more to the SEC than just Auburn and Kentucky.
The top four teams in the SEC are 55-1 at home so winning on the road is proving to be a tad bit difficult for the teams looking to finish in the top half of the SEC standings.
Kentucky (+175) and Auburn (+180) trail only Gonzaga and Arizona in the best odds to reach the Final Four.
Game of the Week
Kentucky Wildcats at Tennessee Volunteers
- Date: Tuesday, 9 p.m.
- Live Stream: ET ESPN
This should be a good one with two of the hottest teams in the SEC squaring off. There’s plenty of star power in this game as Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe is one of the front-runners to be named the national player of the year, while freshmen guards Tyty Washington of Kentucky and Kennedy Chandler of Tennessee have lived up to the hype.
Kentucky is looking for its third win in a row against Tennessee. The Wildcats have won the last two games played in Knoxville.
Five of the last six games have finished over the total.
When the teams met on Jan. 15, freshman Washington went off for 28 points, which matched the margin of victory, the largest in the series since 2013.
Fourth-ranked Kentucky (21-4, 10-2) has won six straight games but only covered in three of them. The Wildcats have won their last three road games.
No. 16 Tennessee (18-6, 9-3) has won four straight games and seven of eight. The Volunteers are one of three SEC teams still undefeated at home.
Here is a team-by-team breakdown of what is next for the rest of the teams in the SEC, with some trends and other pertinent information for those who bet online.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama saw its three-game winning streak against Mississippi State ended with a two-point loss on the road on Jan. 15. The Crimson Tide haven’t lost a home-and-home series in the regular season against Mississippi State since the 2007-08 season and will try to keep that streak intact on Wednesday when the teams meet in Tuscaloosa.
No. 25 Alabama (16-9, 6-6) has failed to cover in nine of its last 11 games. However, the Crimson Tide have won their last two games, including a one-point win over Arkansas that pushed Alabama’s home record to 11-2.
Noah Gurley gets overshadowed by his teammates but he had Alabama’s final four points, including the winning basket with 27 seconds left in a win against Arkansas, in the Crimson Tide’s last game.
Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas saw its nine-game winning streak end with a one-point loss at Alabama on Saturday, but the 23rd-ranked Razorbacks are in fourth place in the SEC standings.
Arkansas has won the last three meetings with Missouri going into Tuesday night’s matchup and covered in each of those games, including the 87-43 home win on Jan. 12. Arkansas had 13 steals to roll to the dominant victory after opening the game on a 26-3 run.
Arkansas (19-6, 8-4) has covered against the college basketball spreads in its last six games.
The Razorbacks shot just 31 percent overall and 29 percent from 3-point range in its loss at Alabama.
Auburn Tigers
It was good while it lasted, but Auburn’s three-week run as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll came to an end with Gonzaga moving back atop the poll.
Auburn (23-2, 11-1) rebounded with a win over Texas A&M after its 19-game winning streak ended on the road against Arkansas. The Tigers are just 3-3 against the spread in its last six games.
The Tigers have won four games in a row against Vanderbilt, although the last two were decided by four and six points.
Jabari Smith is averaging 16.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in home games. He is projected to be one of the first players selected in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Jabari Smith Jr. is special..
Only player in college with:
>4 BLK%
>2 STL%
>40 3PT%
>10 3PA/100Most people have him at either 1 or 2. Where do you have him on your board? pic.twitter.com/hfkRkBJZx4
— Ersin Demir (@EDemirNBA) February 14, 2022
Florida Gators
Florida heads into Tuesday’s showdown looking for its fifth win in a row against Texas A&M, although the Gators have failed to cover in three of their last five games against the Aggies.
Florida (16-9, 6-6) saw its season-best four-game winning streak end with a loss at Kentucky on Saturday.
The Gators have failed to cover in each of their last four games while each of those contests finished under the total.
Colin Castleton is averaging 16 points on 61 percent shooting in his first three games after missing three weeks due to injury.
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia has lost its last five games, although the Bulldogs have covered in three of those contests.
Georgia’s 91-78 win as a 4½-point home underdog in 2021 snapped a four-game losing streak to Louisiana State. The Bulldogs have covered against the Las Vegas odds in six of the last seven games in the series.
Georgia (6-19, 1-11) has lost six of the last seven games determined by single digits. The Bulldogs are 0-7 on the road.
The Bulldogs were outrebounded by 14 in their loss to South Carolina.
Louisiana State Tigers
Louisiana State has won three straight home games against Georgia and will look to make it four in a row on Wednesday night. Five of the last six games in the series have gone over the total.
LSU (18-7, 6-6) rebounded from a three-game losing streak with wins over Texas A&M and Mississippi State. Five of the Tigers’ last six games went over the total.
Only three LSU players have appeared in every game.
Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss has defeated South Carolina three straight times heading into Tuesday’s matchup. The Rebels are 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games against South Carolina.
Ole Miss (12-13, 3-9) has dropped its last three games. Three of the Rebels’ last four games went over the total. Ole Miss is just 1-5 on the road.
Jarkel Joiner, who hadn’t played in nearly a month, has 46 points in his last two games.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State has covered in three of the last four games against Alabama. including a 78-76 win at home when listed by the Las Vegas odds as a 1½-point favorite on Jan. 15 in a game that featured 66 free-throw attempts and 47 fouls called.
Mississippi State (14-10, 5-6) has lost three games in a row with each going under the total. The Bulldogs are one of two SEC teams that have yet to win a true road game.
Tolu Smith has 34 points and 16 rebounds in his first three games back after missing three games.
Missouri Tigers
The Tigers managed a mere 43 points against Arkansas on Jan. 12 as they shot 29 percent from the field.
Missouri (10-14, 4-7) has won four of the last five games when playing host to the Razorbacks.
The Tigers have won two of their last three games after dropping the previous four games. Each of the last three games went over the total while the Tigers are 7-2 in their last nine games against the spread. Seven of Missouri’s 10 wins have come at home.
Ronnie DeGray III and Amari Davis combined for 27 points off the bench in Missouri’s win over Ole Miss on Saturday.
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina hasn’t won at Ole Miss since 2016, with the Rebels covering in each of the last four games in Oxford. Just one of the last four games in the series has been decided by less than 10 points.
South Carolina (14-10, 5-7) snapped a three-game losing streak with Saturday’s win at Georgia. The Gamecocks have covered in five of its last seven games while each of the last five contests went over the total.
Keyshawn Bryant has 40 points in his last two games after managing 20 in the previous four games combined.
Texas A&M Aggies
Although Texas A&M has dropped its last two home games to Florida, the Aggies had won the previous three games played in College Station.
The last three games in the series have gone over the total.
Texas A&M (15-10, 4-8) has lost eight games in a row to fall into 12th place in the SEC standings. The Aggies are 4-4 against the spread in their last eight games while six of the last seven contests went over the total.
Leading scorer Quenton Jackson has scored in double figures in his last seven games but he is 5 of 20 from the field in the last two games.
Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt defeated Auburn 12 times in a row from 2008-17 but hasn’t won since, although the Commodores are 10-2-1 against the spread in their last 13 games in the series.
Vanderbilt (13-11, 5-7) has covered in its last four games with each of the last five matchups going over the total.
Leading scorer Scotty Pippen Jr. has 38 assists in his last six games.
