New York Yankees
SEC March Madness Bubble Watch: Hit or Miss for Ole Miss, Miss. State
- Get the best SEC basketball odds at BetUS.
- Will Arkansas miss the NCAA Tournament in John Calipari’s first season?
- Read on for my March Madness breakdown for SEC teams this week.
What a season it has been in the SEC with four of the top six teams in the latest national polls coming out of the Southeastern Conference. With nine ranked teams, expect to see a heavy SEC presence in the March Madness bracket.
With so many SEC teams piling up victories, coming up with bubble teams from this conference isn’t the easiest task. Those who bet online will have some tough choices to make as the remaining games could impact March Madness hopes in the best conference in men’s college basketball during the 2024-25 season.
Auburn (+330) has the shortest odds of winning March Madness. Florida is third at +850 in the college basketball championship odds followed by Alabama (+900), Tennessee (+1800) and Kentucky (+3500).
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 32 of the final 40 regular-season games in the SEC featuring at least one ranked team.
SEC March Madness Analysis
Are Ole Miss and Mississippi State Bubble Teams?
Putting an Ole Miss team that is currently 24th in the NCAA NET rankings as a bubble team is probably a little harsh. However, a 5-7 record against Quad 1 teams and a 2-6 mark when facing top-25 teams could be an issue when the NCAA Selection Committee looks at the body of work for the Rebels.
Less than a month ’til Selection Sunday! Tap below to check out the latest Bracketology projections for both @OleMissMBB and @OleMissWBB in this week’s Court Report.
— Ole Miss Athletics (@OleMissSports) February 18, 2025
It is a similar scenario for rival Mississippi State. The Bulldogs made a statement with wins over ranked Ole Miss and Texas A&M teams in its last two games to improve to 5-6 against ranked opponents.
The only remaining game in the regular season versus a top-25 team comes Tuesday against Alabama. The BetUS sportsbook hasn’t listed Mississippi State as the road favorite against the Crimson Tide since 2009 and it won’t happen next week either.
Texas is 35th in the NCAA NET rankings. Half of the Longhorns’ 16 wins are in Quad 4 games and a 4-8 record when facing Quad 1 teams could be a bit concerning.
Georgia and Arkansas are a combined 5-19 against Quad 1 squads. The Bulldogs and Razorbacks are also 4-9 in SEC play heading into the weekend.
The Contenders
Auburn holds down the top spot in the NCAA NET rankings and is looking good to be the No. 1 overall seed when the March Madness bracket is finalized.
The 14 Quad 1 wins are nearly twice as many as any other team in the country and a 9-2 record against ranked teams will also aid the cause for the Tigers, per NCAAB betting trends. The last four games of the regular season will come against ranked teams.
Part one of our three game home stretch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZjgCzQqFSU
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 20, 2025
There were 20 teams with shorter March Madness odds than Florida when the season began. However, when the NCAA announced the first of its updates on the top 16 seeds in the upcoming national tournament, Florida was one of the three SEC teams on the top line.
All three of Florida’s losses are to Quad 1 teams. It is a similar deal for Tennessee and Alabama as the Volunteers and Crimson Tide come in at No. 5 and No. 6 in the NCAA NET rankings. All five of Alabama’s remaining games in the regular season are against ranked teams including top-10 showdowns with Tennessee, Florida and Auburn in March.
Kentucky (8-7 in Quad 1 games) and Missouri (6-6 in Quad 1 games) are also in the top 15 in the NCAA NET rankings. Kentucky moved up two spots to No. 12 and Missouri’s 110-98 win over Alabama this week, which headlined NCAAB news, saw the Tigers go from 15th to 13th.
Texas A&M has seven Quad 1 wins and a 6-3 record against ranked teams. They don’t receive the buzz of some of the other SEC teams but could be a team to watch and include in NCAAB picks in the March Madness bracket.
Some Work To Do
Vanderbilt owns wins over Tennessee and Kentucky. However, the Commodores dropped the other eight matchups with Quad 1 teams and a 1-5 record in February is not ideal. The next three games come against ranked teams.
Oklahoma is outside the top 50 in the NCAA NET rankings and is just 3-7 against ranked teams in its first SEC season.
Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets.
Check Out Last Week’s SEC March Madness Bubble Teams Stats
Questions of the Day
How many SEC teams have winning records against the college basketball spread?
Ten. Florida has covered in 19 of 26 games this season while Missouri, Texas A&M and Auburn have won at least 60% time against the spread this season.
Which SEC team has had the most games land over the total this season?
Auburn leads the way with 15 games going over the total with six teams having 14 games land over.
