SEC March Madness Bubble Watch: Auburn Staking Claim to No. 1 Overall Seed in NCAAs

There are seven SEC teams in the top 20 in the NCAA NET rankings. There are also some squads that figure to enter the SEC tournament as March Madness bubble teams. With 17 of the final 24 SEC regular-season games featuring at least one ranked team, there will be some tough decisions ahead for those who bet online.

Auburn (+350) is tied with Duke for the shortest odds of winning March Madness. Florida (+900), Alabama (+1000) and Tennessee (+1600) aren’t far behind in the NCAAB championship odds .

Auburn (-1000) has the shortest odds of winning the SEC title followed by Florida (+1000) and Alabama (+1200).

BetUS will continue to monitor the progress of SEC teams with the regular season winding down.

SEC March Madness Analysis

Bubble Teams Ole Miss, Mississippi State Need to Start Winning?

Ole Miss has lost three games in a row to fall out of the top 25 in The Associated Press poll. The Rebels never led and trailed by as many as 33 points in Wednesday’s 30-point loss to No. 1 Auburn. Ole Miss came into the game listed by the college basketball spread as a 12.5-point underdog.

Juju w/ the steal ↩️
Murrell with the triple 👌 pic.twitter.com/vDaV6T5pwe

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 27, 2025

The Rebels are just 2-7 against ranked teams with the wins coming against Alabama and Kentucky, per NCAAB betting trends The final two games of the regular season come against Tennessee and Florida, so there is a chance for the Rebels to add some quality wins before the SEC tournament gets underway. A 5-9 record in Quad 1 games is one of the reasons why the Rebels are considered to be a March Madness bubble team.

Mississippi State doesn’t face another ranked team in the regular season. However, winning at Arkansas in the regular-season final won’t be easy. Despite a 7-8 record in Quad 1 games, the Bulldogs are 30th in the NCAA NET rankings.

That is seven spots ahead of Georgia, which registered a recent win over Florida that could be a huge deal in the eyes of the NCAA Selection Committee. Only South Carolina has more losses to Quad 1 teams.

Arkansas and Vanderbilt have combined for seven wins against ranked teams. Will that be enough for them to make the March Madness field?

Georgia and Arkansas are a combined 7-20 against Quad 1 squads. The Bulldogs and Razorbacks also figure to finish the regular season with losing SEC records. That won’t help their March Madness odds.

Auburn in Line for No. 1 Overall Seed in March Madness

There are plenty of March Madness title contenders in the SEC. Auburn has 15 Quad 1 wins and that is five more than any other team.

The Tigers have won five games in a row since falling to Florida with Johni Broome continuing to be a popular college basketball player prop option. Auburn could easily be the No. 1 overall seed when the March Madness bracket is announced.

a replay of last night’s events roll through my mind pic.twitter.com/Qhzpg5v6GO

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 26, 2025

Tennessee, Florida and Alabama come in at No. 4, 5 and 6 in the NCAA NET rankings as they battle it out for the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament.

Tennessee has won its last three games while Alabama looks to extend its winning streak to three games on Saturday against the Volunteers. It is the first of three straight matchups against top-10 foes for the Crimson Tide, per Tennessee vs Alabama stats.

All four of Florida’s losses are to Quad 1 teams. A 5-4 record in Quad 1 games could hurt the March Madness seeding for the Gators.

Missouri (6-7 in Quad 1 games) and Kentucky (9-8 in Quad 1 games) are also in the top 15 in the NCAA NET rankings.

Texas A&M has lost three games in a row to fall to No. 20 in the NCAA NET rankings.

Late Slide Appears to Burst Texas’ Bubble

Few losses will look worse than Texas falling to a South Carolina team that was winless in conference play. Even though Texas is in the top 40 in the NCAA NET rankings, there are too many blemishes on the record for the Longhorns to be a viable NCAA tournament at-large candidate.

Oklahoma is 50th in the NCAA NET rankings. The last time out, the Sooners led Kentucky by five points in the second half before falling by a point with most of the damage being done by Otega Oweh. That had to hurt considering that Oweh was the second-leading scorer for the Sooners last season before making NCAAB news by transferring to Kentucky.

Check Out Last Week’s SEC March Madness Bubble Teams Stats

• SEC March Madness Bubble Watch: Hit or Miss for Ole Miss, Miss. State

Questions of the Day

Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets.