2011 SEC Championship Odds

The Southeastern Conference 2011 Men’s Basketball Tournament gets underway this Thursday, March 10 from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta with the first game tipping off at 1 p.m.(ET). Florida, Kentucky and possibly Vanderbilt have already done enough in the regular season to secure a spot in this year’s NCAA Men’s Tournament, but for teams such as Alabama and Tennessee there is work to be done. The rest of the teams in this tournament are going to have to win the conference title to get their invitation to the Big Dance.

The first round consists of the bottom seeds from both the East and West Division with E4 Georgia taking on W5 Auburn and W3 Mississippi squaring off against E6 South Carolina in the early games and E5 Tennessee tackling W4 Arkansas and E3 Vanderbilt battling W6 LSU in the late games.

Friday’s quarterfinals pit W1 Alabama against the winner of Georgia/Auburn and E2 Kentucky against the winner of Ole Miss/ S.Carolina in the early games and E1 Florida against the winner of Tenn. Arkansas and W2 Mississippi State against the winner of Vanderbilt/LSU in the late games.

The semifinals are set for Saturday, March 12 and the championship game is scheduled for Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on ABC.

Florida won the SEC regular season title and finished a few places higher in the final regular season Coaches’ Poll at No.12, but Sportsbook.com has opened the 16th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats as the favorite to win this week at +125. Kentucky closed out the regular season on a strong note with consecutive victories over the Gators, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee to finish 22-8 straight-up overall (11-13-1 against the spread) and 10-6 SU in conference play.

The Wildcats’ youth has prevailed so far this season with freshman starters Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb playing well beyond their years. Knight and Jones are each averaging over 17 points a game and Jones leads the team in rebounds with 9.2 a game. Kentucky is shooting 46 percent from the field and averaging 77 points and 38 rebounds a game.

The Gators are the second favorite and offer some value at +250. They finished strong down the stretch with the 76-68 loss to Kentucky as an eight-point road underdog being the only setback in their final nine games. The Gators wound up 24-6 SU overall on the year (12-13-1 ATS) and won the SEC with a record of 13-3 SU.

This team has four players scoring in double-figures led by Erving Walker’s 14.5 points a game. Kenny Boynton is the second leading scorer with 13.7 points and Chandler Parsons leads the team in rebounds with 7.8 a game. Florida is averaging 78 points and 38 rebounds a game and shooting 46 percent from the field.

The value pick for the SEC tournament would be Vanderbilt at +450. The Commodores have spent most of the season in the shadows of Kentucky and Florida, but remain the only other nationally ranked team in the conference at No.24. There could be some cause for concern after finishing up the regular season with losses to both of these teams, but Vandy also beat Kentucky 81-77 as a one-point home underdog earlier in the season and lost its first game to Florida 65-61 in overtime as a 4 ½-point road underdog.

The Commodores have an overall record of 21-9 SU (15-10-1 ATS) and went 9-7 SU in SEC play. They are shooting 46.2 percent from the field and averaging 77 points a game.