Guess what? The concept of some scintillating Saturday matchups in the Southeastern Conference is not limited to football season.
While there is be plenty of basketball still to be played, it is hard not to get excited about the matchups between No. 12 Kentucky and No. 2 Auburn or No. 13 Louisiana State traveling to play at No. 24 Tennessee.
The Tuesday matchup between Tennessee and Vanderbilt bears watching as well. It will be interesting to see if LSU and Kentucky take care of business against solid competition on Wednesday.
Auburn moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. That’s not bad considering that the Tigers had the fifth-best odds to win the SEC title coming into the season.
South Carolina Gamecocks at Arkansas Razorbacks
Date, time, TV: Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network
JD Notae of Arkansas is tied with Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. for the SEC scoring lead, averaging 18.8 points per game. South Carolina comes into the game with the lowest-scoring offense in the SEC. Notae is also averaging 2.6 steals per game.
JD Notae’s current average of 2.56 steals per game this year are the 12th-most in a season in @RazorbackMBB history and most since Ronnie Brewer’s 2.59 in 2005-06. Notae & Brewer (who did it 3x) are the the only Hogs in the post-Nolan era to average 2+ steals per game in a season
— HogStats.com (@HogStats) January 17, 2022
Arkansas (12-5, 2-3 in the SEC) has won four of the last six meetings against the Gamecocks.
Arkansas has won its last two games and covered in each of them. South Carolina has lost three of its last four games and is 1-3 against the spread in those three games.
South Carolina’s last two games went under the total set by the college basketball spreads. The Gamecocks (10-6, 1-3) will play host to Georgia on Saturday
Missouri Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels
Date, time, TV: Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Even though six of the last seven games between Missouri and Ole Miss went over the total this isn’t projecting to be an offensive shootout. Ole Miss and Missouri are the only SEC teams averaging less than 70 points per game.
Ole Miss won six of the last seven games against Missouri and covered in each of those wins.
Missouri (7-9, 1-3) and Ole Miss (9-7, 1-3) have each lost four of their last five games. Four of the last six Ole Miss games have gone over the total.
Missouri plays at Alabama on Saturday. The Tigers have won the last three games against Alabama and covered in each of the three wins.
Tennessee Volunteers at Vanderbilt Commodores
Date, time, TV: Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Tennessee has beaten Vanderbilt eight consecutive times, although it has covered in just four of those eight contests. Both teams are looking to find some offensive consistency as both are in the bottom half of the SEC in field goal percentage.
Four of the last five games between the Volunteers (11-5, 2-3) and Commodores (10-6, 2-2) have gone under the total.
Four of the last six Tennessee games have gone under the total.
The Vols have alternated wins and losses in the last six contests. Vanderbilt has won five of its last seven games and covered in all five of the wins.
Mississippi State Bulldogs at Florida Gators
Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network
The game features two of the top scorers in the SEC. Iverson Molinar is second in scoring at 17.9 points per game while Florida’s Colin Castleton is sixth at 15.4 points per contest.
Mississippi State (12-4, 3-1) has beaten Florida (10-6, 1-3) three straight times and covered against the Las Vegas odds in each of the last two games.
The last three games between the Bulldogs and Gators have gone over the total.
The last five Mississippi State games have gone over the total.
Florida has lost three of its last five games and failed to cover in each of the three losses
Louisiana State Tigers at Alabama Crimson Tide
Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
LSU leads the SEC with 12.2 steals per game while Alabama is tied for second with 220 offensive rebounds.
Alabama has defeated LSU in each of the last four meetings and covered in three of those contests. Three of the last four games between the teams have gone over the total.
No. 13 LSU (15-2, 3-2) has lost two of its last five contests after opening the season with 12 wins in a row
Alabama (11-6, 2-3) lost its last three games and failed to cover in all three of those games. The last four games went over the total for the Crimson Tide.
Kentucky Wildcats at Texas A&M Aggies
Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Kentucky features the leading rebounder in the country as Oscar Tshiebwe is pulling down 14.9 per game. Texas A&M has one of the best free-throw shooters in the SEC in Quenton Jackson. Texas A&M is one of two teams with a perfect mark in the SEC but it is not one of the four ranked teams in the conference.
Eight of the last Kentucky-Texas A&M games went over the total, which could be of interest to those who bet online.
No. 12 Kentucky (14-3, 4-1) won six of the last seven games against Texas A&M (15-2, 4-0), with four of those games decided by less than 10 points.
Kentucky has covered in six of its last eight games, including the last two, while Texas A&M won its last eight games.
Georgia Bulldogs at Auburn Tigers
Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU
No. 2 Auburn is second in the SEC with 151 three-pointers heading into a game featuring the first- and last-place teams in the conference.
Auburn (16-1, 5-0) has won six of the last eight games against Georgia, including three of the last four home games.
Georgia (5-12, 0-4) has lost its last six games and has only covered in two of them.
Three of the last four Georgia games went over the total.
Auburn has won its last 13 games and covered in each of the last six.
Kentucky Wildcats at Auburn Tigers
Date, time, TV: Saturday, TBD, CBS
Kentucky welcomed back SEC assists leader Sahvir Wheeler to the court in the last game. He will be tested by the aggressive Auburn defense.
Kentucky’s last six games have alternated going over and under the total while the last four Auburn games have gone over the total.
Three of the last four games between Kentucky and Auburn have gone under the total. The last five meetings between the teams have been decided by less than 10 points.
Vanderbilt Commodores at Florida Gators
Date, time, TV: Saturday, 1 p.m. SEC Network
Vanderbilt’s Pippen s tied for the conference lead in scoring, which is all the more impressive considering that the Commodores are 12th in the SEC in scoring offense. Florida is second in the conference with an average of 6.1 blocked shots per game.
Florida has won its last seven games against Vanderbilt, including the last five at home.
Vanderbilt’s last two games went under the total after the previous three games finished over the total.
Florida has lost three of its last four games and failed to cover in all three losses. The last two Florida games went under the total.
Ole Miss Rebels at Mississippi State Bulldogs
Date, time, TV: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET
Mississippi State is 10-1 at home while Ole Miss has lost its two true road games.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State have alternated wins and losses in their last nine meetings. Three of the last four games between the Rebels and Bulldogs have gone under the total.
Mississippi State has won four of its last five games and covered in each of the four wins while Ole Miss has lost four of its last five games.
Louisiana State Tigers at Tennessee Volunteers
Date, time, TV: Saturday, 6 p.m. ET
No. 13 LSU and No. 24 Tennessee have almost identical scoring numbers with both averaging between 75.1-75.5 points.
Tennessee has alternated wins and losses in the last six contests
Four of LSU’s last five games went under the total
Six of the last seven games between LSU and Tennessee have finished under the total. LSU has won the last four meetings against Tennessee.
Texas A&M Aggies at Arkansas Razorbacks
Date, time, TV: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Texas A&M is one of two SEC teams with a perfect road record. Arkansas is 9-1 at home. Three of the last four Texas A&M games have been decided by five points or less
Arkansas has won its last two games and covered in each of them after dropping its previous three.
The last five Arkansas games against Texas A&M games went over the total. The last six games between the teams have been decided by 10 points or less.
