SEC Football Week 1 Betting Odds, Trends & Pick of the Week

Sep 2015

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When it comes to the five power conferences in college football the SEC is usually considered the most competitive from top to bottom. This season is no exception with eight different teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 rankings.

Perennial power Alabama has made its way to the top of 5Dimes’ futures odds list as a +215 favorite to win the West Division and a +305 favorite to win the 2015 SEC Championship. The Crimson Tide’s betting odds to go on and win another national title have been set at +1000, which are second only to Ohio State. Alabama will kick-off its 2015 season as a neutral-site 10.5-point favorite against the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The total for this game has been set at 50.5.

The Georgia Bulldogs are +167 favorites to represent the East Division in the SEC title game this season and they are listed as +475 second-favorites to win the conference title this time around. Georgia gets things started this Saturday afternoon as a heavy 35-point home favorite against UL-Monroe, out of the Sun Belt. The total line for this contest has been set at 53.5.

The third-favorite to win the SEC this season on 5Dimes’ futures is the Auburn Tigers at +500. They fell to just 4-4 straight-up in conference play last year, but they come into this year’s campaign as +355 second-favorites to win the West Division. Auburn’s odds to go on and win a national title have been set at +1600, which are the fourth-best odds on the list. The Tigers open their new season on Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta against the ACC’s Louisville Cardinals. Auburn is listed as a 10.5-point favorite with the total set at 56.5.

The Week 1 schedule in the SEC gets underway this Thursday night with the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels squaring off against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Both teams are looking to get off to a fast start following a disappointing 2014 campaign. South Carolina has been opened as a three-point favorite and the total line has been set at 64.

Another interesting neutral-site matchup in Week 1 pits the Pac-12 Arizona State Sun Devils against the Texas A&M Aggies at NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday night. The Aggies have been listed as three-point favorites with the total set at 66.5.

SEC Pick of the Week

The Tennessee Volunteers are coming off a 7-6 record in 2014 both straight-up and against the spread after posting back-to-back 5-7 records the previous two seasons. They are listed as solid +265 second-favorites to win the SEC’s East Division this season and this Saturday at LP Field in Nashville they will be looking to get off to a fast start as 20.5-point favorites against the Bowling Green Falcons, out of the Mid-American Conference. The total for this game has been set at 61.

The Falcons failed to cover in four of their last five games last season as part of an overall record of 8-6 SU and 5-8-1 ATS. Tennessee finished the 2014 season on a 4-1 SU run while going 3-2 ATS. It closed-out the season with an impressive 45-28 rout over Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl as a three-point favorite. The Volunteers return quarterback Joshua Dobbs and running back Jalen Hurd from an offense that averaged a respectable 28.9 points a game. Defensively, Curt Maggitt is also back after leading the team in sacks with 11. I am laying the points in this one and taking Tennessee to make a bold statement right out of the gate with a big win.