SEC Tournament Predictions, Betting Odds & Favorites to Win 2023

• The reigning SEC Tournament Champion is Tennessee, who beat Texas A&M to take home its fifth title. 
• 2023 SEC Tournament will be held from March 8th through March 12th at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Tennessee and Alabama are favorites to win the 2023 SEC Tournament.

The SEC Conference Tournament will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting in the nation, with a handful of teams more than capable of walking away with a conference tournament championship. Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee all have a legitimate chance of winning; however, the Volunteers and Crimson Tide will likely be the odds favorites. 

Just last season we witnessed the No. 8 seeded Texas A&M Aggies take down the No. 1 seeded Auburn Tigers, advancing all the way to the Conference Finals before being bested by Tennessee. Check out our analysis on all of the aforementioned teams and see which ones have the best shot to come away with a coveted SEC Conference Tournament championship.

SEC Tournament Betting Odds

Kentucky Wildcats

It might surprise some that the Kentucky Wildcats haven’t won an SEC Tournament Championship since 2018. For a program that seems to rule the SEC, they have struggled to close the deal in recent seasons. 

However, this is less of a slight to Kentucky, and more of a testament to the ever-improving SEC, which has a handful of teams more than capable of making deep March Madness runs this season. 

Meanwhile, this season has been one of the worst in recent history for the Wildcats, despite being ranked in the preseason as the No. 4 team in the AP Top 25 poll. Losses have piled up, and now, the Wildcats’ SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament future are much less certain than it was a few months ago. 

Still, Kentucky has someone that other teams do not: Oscar Tshiebwe. Tshiebwe is not entirely posting the stats he was last season when he was named National Player of the Year, but he’s not far off. His 17 points and 15 rebounds per game come on a highly efficient 59% shooting from the floor.

Joining Tshiebwe as key players for this Wildcats team are Cason Wallace, Jacob Toppin, Antonio Reeves, CJ Fredrick, Chris Livingston, and Sahvir Wheeler. Offensive talent is not the issue with this team; consistent defense, team cohesiveness, and discipline often elude Kentucky. 

If there’s any man that can turn the Wildcats around, it is head coach John Calipari. Coach Cal gets his team playing their best basketball in March, so don’t count this team out quite yet.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama probably has the best chance of securing an SEC Tournament championship this season behind its exceptionally talented freshman Brandon Miller. Miller is a 6-foot-9 forward that shoots like a guard, can handle the ball like a guard, and moves like a guard. 

Essentially, he’s a lock to be a top-five pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Miller shoots roughly 45% from the field and from behind the arc. The level of difficulty of the three-pointers that he takes is relatively high, too; he is not getting many clean looks as the No. 1 option for one of the best teams in America.

What makes the Crimson Tide extremely dangerous is their depth outside of Miller. If he has an off game, plenty of players can pick up the slack, including 6-foot-10 freshman forward Noah Clowney, shifty, do-it-all guard Mark Sears, and crafty finisher Jahvon Quinerly.

Alabama plays fast and physical ball. The Crimson Tide rank amongst the leaders in adjusted tempo and adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation. They are a difficult team to play against, exemplified by the combination of their elite winning percentage and their adjusted strength of schedule rating. 

Now that the positives of this talented Nate Oats-coached team have been covered, it is time to go over the most concerning issue: three-point shooting. The Crimson Tide rank close to 200th in the nation in 3P% (three-point percentage), despite Brandon Miller shooting roughly 25% of their three-pointers at a 45% clip. That could derail their title dreams if not fixed.

Still, Alabama’s defense, talent, poise, and determination give it a great chance to win the SEC Tournament, and it will inevitably be a top seed going into it.

Arkansas Razorbacks

One of the nation’s best trio of freshmen (Anthony Black, Nick Smith Jr, and Jordan Walsh) play for Eric Musselman, a former NBA coach, and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas is a young team but does have a veteran leader with guard Ricky Council IV, who leads them in scoring.

The Razorbacks have unfortunately sustained a few injuries that changed the trajectory of their season. For one, Arkansas lost uber-talented 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Trevon Brazile to a knee injury; he will be sidelined for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign.

Additionally, the Razorbacks have only had projected top-ten pick Nick Smith Jr for three complete games. Smith was going to add another layer to this Arkansas backcourt with his exceptional scoring ability that would have made it a true National Championship contender. 

Smith continues to be out indefinitely, and it is unknown if he will be able to return this season. Even if he does, expectations should be curbed, as freshmen that tend to make a significant impact in March have played most or all of the season.

Regardless, there is another issue looming over Arkansas despite just its misfortune with injuries: road games. The Razorbacks started the season with an 0-5 record on the road and didn’t look like the same team. 

Even though SEC Tournament games will be played at a neutral site, it still can feel like a road game when you aren’t on your home floor. This is an improvement that has to be made leading into the tournament.

Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee boasts the nation’s best defense, and it is not all that close. KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency has the Vols as the top defensive team, and that should not be a surprise.

They rank first in opponent points per game, defensive efficiency, opponent eFG% (effective field goal percentage), and opponent 3P% (three-point percentage.) The Volunteers aren’t far from breaking the scale.

This is a tough team to prepare for due to how well their scoring is distributed; they have five players averaging double-digit points, and it is nearly impossible to tell which will cause trouble any given night. Santiago Vescovi, Zakai Zeigler, Olivier Nkamhoua, Josiah-Jordan James, and Julian Phillips may be the best combination of five players in the nation. 

If the Vols catch fire from deep in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, they will be a surefire favorite to win both.