Tennessee basketball enters SEC play as the betting favorite to win the league

No. 7 Tennessee enters the Southeastern Conference basketball schedule as the betting favorite to win the league’s regular-season championship, according to odds released Monday by BetOnline.ag. The Vols have 9/4 odds of winning the SEC, ahead of Kentucky (14/5) and Alabama (7/2).

SEC play for Tennessee (10-2) starts at Ole Miss (8-4) on Wednesday in a 5 p.m. Eastern Time game (TV: SEC Network) at the Pavilion at Ole Miss in Oxford.

The Vols, who moved up to No. 7 in Monday’s updated Associated Press Top 25, are +225 to win the league, ahead of +280 for Kentucky and +350 for Alabama. Tennessee is the highest-ranked SEC team, one spot ahead of No. 8 Alabama and two spots ahead of No. 9 Arkansas. Kentucky is ranked 19th, Auburn is 20th and Mississippi State is 21st. 

Arkansas has the fourth best odds to win the league, at 4/1. Next is Auburn (14/1) and Florida (25/1). LSU and Mississippi State are both 40/1, Missouri and Texas A&M are both 50/1 and Ole Miss is 75/1. Vanderbilt is 200/1 while Georgia and South Carolina are both 300/1.

Tennessee finished second in the league in the regular season last year with a 14-4 record, one game behind Auburn. The Vols won the SEC Tournament championship for the first time since 1979, beating Mississippi State, Kentucky and Texas A&M to take home the title.

SEC Title Odds
Tennessee	9/4 (+225)
Kentucky	14/5 (+280)
Alabama	7/2 (+350)
Arkansas	4/1
Auburn	14/1
Florida	25/1
LSU	40/1
Mississippi State	40/1
Missouri	50/1
Texas A&M	50/1
Ole Miss	75/1
Vanderbilt	200/1
Georgia	300/1
South Carolina	300/1

Vols ranked No. 3 in NET, KenPom.com ratings

Tennessee is No. 3 in both the KenPom.com ratings and the NET, the metric the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to seed the 68-team field. 

The Vols are No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up just 80.8 points per 100 possession, and are 49th in offensive efficiency, scoring 109.4 points per 100 possessions. 

Tennessee has a 2-1 record in three Quad 1 games in the NET ranking, the loss coming at No. 5 Arizona on December 17, and is 2-1 in Quad 2 games, with the loss coming against Colorado in Nashville on November 13. The Vols are 1-0 in Quad 3 games and 5-0 in Quad 4 games. 

Last week Tennessee beat Austin Peay 86-44 at Thompson-Boling Arena, bouncing back from the 75-70 loss at Arizona. The Vols won eight straight games from November 16 to December 11, including three games in three days to win the Battle 4 Atlantis championship in the Bahamas, beating Butler, Southern Cal and Kansas. 

Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee at Ole Miss, Wednesday, 5 p.m. ET, SEC Network

After the win over Austin Peay on Wednesday, senior guard Santiago Vescovi was asked what he’s learned about this Tennessee team as it enters conference play. 

“When tough times come,” Vescovi said, “the ability to stick together. I think that is great for this team. I think we have a great chemistry. Every single player, I think we all like each other and that’s something very, very rare. It doesn’t happen everywhere and I think that’s helping us a lot like I said when tough times come, instead of spreading out we come together and find out what we did wrong and how we can improve and I think we have great talent and a lot of experience as well. 

“I think the most important thing, we have a lot of will. We have a lot of players who come in here wanting to put their body on the line, give everything every single game and I think that’s what’s going to take us far.”