2025 SEC Tournament Preview: Bracket, Schedule, Odds and Betting Predictions

Reed Wallach | Mar 11, 2025

Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome (4) makes a post move on Florida Gators center Alex Condon (21) as Auburn Tigers take on Florida Gators at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There has been no more competitive conference in college basketball this season than the SEC. 

The SEC has a No. 1 seed in Auburn that is viewed as one of the premier contenders in this year’s NCAA Tournament and three other teams vying for the fourth No. 1 seed between Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. 

The entire conference descends on Nashville, Tennessee, this week for the SEC Tournament. Let’s get you set for it all with the schedule, odds, dark horses, and a prediction for the tournament!

SEC Tournament Schedule

🏀 The Bracket.

🔗 https://t.co/vmJIHrHOJ9#SECMBB x #SECTourney pic.twitter.com/WIo5kHbk7x

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) March 9, 2025

The SEC Tournament gets underway on Wednesday, March 12th, with five straight days of play, culminating with the championship game on Sunday, March 15th.

SI College Basketball Staff Writer Kevin Sweeney's First Round Picks

• No. 16 South Carolina over No. 9 Arkansas
• No. 12 Vanderbilt over No. 13 Texas
• No. 10 Mississippi State over No. 15 LSU
• No. 11 Georgia over No. 14 Oklahoma

SEC Tournament Odds

• Auburn: +145
• Florida: +340
• Alabama: +370
• Tennessee: +500
• Kentucky: +3000
• Texas A&M: +3000
• Missouri: +3500
• Ole Miss: +6000
• Mississippi State: +6000
• Texas: +25000
• Georgia: +25000
• Arkansas: +25000
• Oklahoma: +25000
• Vanderbilt: +25000
• LSU: +25000
• South Carolina: +25000
• LSU: +25000

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

SEC Tournament Dark Horse

Missouri 

The Tigers have had plenty of success against the top teams in the conference, using their physicality to dominate the teams both inside and out. 

Dennis Gates has revitalized the Tigers quickly after going winless in the SEC last season, landing impact transfers like Mark Mitchell and Caleb Grill to join forces with senior Tamar Bates. The team has been lights out from the perimeter, hitting 37% of its three-point shots, but also relentless at getting to the free-throw line, where the team is second in free throw rate. 

The Tigers' defense can be ripe for an early exit in both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. The team is bottom 100 in defensive rebounding rate, but that’s by design with the team’s aggressive defense forcing turnovers at the 33rd highest rate in the country. 

This boom-or-bust nature makes me interested in long shot prices in betting the Tigers to have a fine run in the SEC Tournament. 

The team is poised to face Florida in the quarterfinals, assuming the team can get past the winner of Vanderbilt and Texas, whom the Tigers beat in Gainesville earlier in the season. 

Of course, it’s a long shot, but with such a clear top of this conference, I’m not going too far down the board to find a team that can play spoiler.  

SEC Tournament Prediction and Best Bets

Reed Wallach, SI Betting College Basketball Expert

Florida

There’s a clear top four in the SEC: Auburn. Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. 

There are bullish cases for all four teams, but at price, I’m going to side with the Gators. 

While Auburn has plenty of buzz as one of the best teams in the country, there’s a case to be made that Florida has the more dynamic roster, inside the top 10 in both KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency. 

I mentioned above some concerns about a potential Missouri matchup in the quarterfinals, but it’s the long-term outlook for the Gators that makes me think they are also worthy of a bet to win the SEC Tournament, even if that matchup can be challenging. 

Florida is built to handle defensive pressure and can win the shot volume battle, being second in SEC play in both turnover percentage and offensive rebounding rate. 

The team has a ton of size in the frontcourt around the dynamic playmaking of Walter Clayton, who is averaging 17 points per game and over four assists, but the team may be getting even better. 

Big man Micah Handlogten returned from a leg injury in the NCAA Tournament last year and first returned in mid-February, a potential boost to the team’s depth against an imposing Auburn frontcourt down the road in the SEC Tournament. 

The Gators have a tricky path, but this, to me, is the best team in the conference, and the price difference between them and Auburn is incorrect, in my opinion. 

Kevin Sweeney, SI College Basketball Staff Writer

The Gators made a deep run in last year’s SEC tournament and have a much better team this time around.

Duke and Houston are the only other teams in the country to rank in the top 10 of both offensive and defensive efficiency on KenPom, and Florida has wins this season over the rest of the top five teams in the bracket.

Florida’s depth is a valuable asset in this setting, especially with center Micah Handlogten back healthy from his devastating leg injury suffered in last year’s conference tournament. Should they get there, the Gators match up very well with likely semifinal opponent Alabama, and from there, I think I trust them more in a title game situation than Auburn, Tennessee, or whoever else emerges from the other side of the bracket. 

Get all of Kevin's work this March here, and follow him on Twitter @CBB_Central

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