College Basketball is back, and the Southeastern Conference is looking to continue to build off of another strong season last year. As we continue to preview every College Basketball team and conference, it’s time for the 2026-27 SEC preview, odds to win, and best bets.
Last season was a good one for the SEC. Florida dominated the regular season, going 16-2 in conference and 27-8 overall. Arkansas stole the SEC tournament title, winning a match over Vanderbilt in convincing style, 86-75. It was the Razorbacks second conference tournament championship. Vanderbilt themselves had an impressive 91-74 victory to knock Florida out of contention.
An impressive 10 SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament. Highlighting the conference’s depth. Unfortunately, that’s where the SEC fell short. Only two teams, Tennessee and Texas, made it past the second round of play. Five SEC teams lost in the first round of March Madness.
Odds to Win SEC Regular Season Championship
Florida +120
Texas +575
Alabama +800
Tennessee +1000
Arkansas +1000
Kentucky +1700
Vanderbilt +1700
LSU +2000
Auburn +3500
Missouri +3500
Texas A&M +4000
Georgia +5000
Oklahoma +6000
Ole Miss +10000
Mississippi State +30000
South Carolina +50000
SEC Conference Best Bets
Florida Gators Over 14.5 Conference Wins (-130)
Florida is the heavy favorite in the SEC for good reason. This is a strong team who has already done it. Rather than worry about them winning the SEC, let’s just shoot for going over their win total. They crushed this last year, winning 16 games. Florida returns 81.8% of its scoring from last season’s SEC championship team, including four starters and six of its eight primary rotation players.
Their frontcourt could be the best in the entire country with Rueben Chinyelu, Thomas Haugh, and Alex Condon. Denzel Aberdeen, who was a part of the 2025 National Championship team, returns after averaging 13.5 points and 3.4 assists at Kentucky last season. Todd Golden’s squad is Golden. They should be one of the best in the nation this season.
Tennessee Volunteers to Win SEC (+1000)
I’m not sure Florida will be challenged, but if they are, Tennessee is the team that can do it. Rick Barnes’ group made it farther than any SEC team in the NCAA Tournament last year. It was another Elite Eight appearance for the Volunteers. Juke Harris comes over from Wake Forest. He is the centerpiece of Tennessee’s championship argument. At Wake Forest, Harris averaged 21.4 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, 1.9 assists per game, and 1.3 steals per game.
Barnes was one of the most aggressive coaches in the transfer portal this season. There’s something to be said about Florida bringing their guys back and reloading. For Tennessee, they went out to get better. In total, they brought in nine transfers, seven of which averaged double digits last season. Barnes is great at coaching up talent, and he has the talent.
