SEC Betting Preview: Which of the many contenders is the best bet?

Conference winner, regular-season win totals, and a lookahead line bet to make

We might as well start with the cream of the crop. With apologies to the Big Ten, from top-to-bottom, that’s the SEC. That’s less a matter of opinion, and more about the numbers, which have SEC teams with an average of 73.1 in our estimated market power ratings. While that’s boosted by the number of teams who are considered national contenders, any team rated in the low 70s is enough to be a top-25 team.

In simplest terms, the average SEC team is considered on the level of a College Football Playoff (CFP) contender, which isn’t the case in any other conference.

By median, the ninth through seventh teams on the SEC oddsboard are Florida, Tennessee (in the playoff last year) and South Carolina (probably should have been). If any of those schools won a playoff game this year, few would be completely surprised.

The SEC might have more of the top 12 teams nationally than are invited to the CFP, but, on average, their schedules are 21% more difficult than an average college football schedule (the Big Ten is second at +17%).

Conference odds

*Odds taken from Pinnacle Sportsbook

The order atop the oddsboard is Texas-Georgia-Alabama, but while one of the sharper sportsbooks in the industry has the trio grouped tightly, others have more separation.

Naturally, the three top-rated teams in the SEC are also among the (top-six) contenders for the national title. In Year 2 of the 12-team playoff, after devaluing the conference championship by no longer giving the winner one of the top four seeds, we’re still exploring the possibility that a virtual lock for the CFP find themselves in a situation where winning the conference isn’t the priority it once was.