Only a few games remain until postseason college basketball. Who’s the favorite for the SEC title?
Only three games remain in the regular season. And what a season it’s been.
I’m not just talking about Missouri either. Anyone with a pulse on college basketball is aware of the historic nature of the Southeastern Conference’s depth this season. As of Friday afternoon, ESPN Bracketology had 13 teams out of the SEC’s 16 in the field of 68. That’s two more than the current record of 11 teams sent by the Big East in 2011… and that still might be selling the SEC short.
Only two teams — South Carolina and LSU — are unofficially out of the race, assuming of course they don’t run the table at the SEC Tournament. Teams like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Georgia are all fighting for some of the final remaining bids, and the quality of the conference means they’ll all have plenty of chances to stack impressive wins before Selection Sunday.
Even with the staggering depth of the conference, however, we’ve come to the point in the season where the race for the regular season title has become top-heavy. In fact, the title could be sewn up this weekend. Auburn currently leads the pack at 14-1, with only 12-3 Alabama and 11-4 Florida able to mathematically catch them. SB Nation asked fans across the country to chime in on who they think is going to take home the regular season prize and…
Yeah, no surprise there! It’s looking all but sewn up that Auburn is going to capture its third regular season SEC title under Bruce Pearl. Florida would need the Tigers to lose out to give themselves the tie-breaker. Even in that scenario, Florida would need to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa next week, which seems far-fetched (though not impossible.) Alabama needs some serious slippage from Auburn in the coming weeks, but could have all to play for in the final game of the regular season next weekend, when they head to Neville Arena.
Feel like placing some cash on the dark horses? Maybe you’ve got a feeling Auburn is due for a fade? Head to FanDuel, SB Nation’s betting partner, to get your bets in before the regular season closes.