We kick off our college football conference preview with a deep dive into the Southeastern Conference.
The win totals, conference title odds and national championship odds for every FBS team have been released, and below our experts — Bill Connelly, David Hale, Doug Kezirian, Joe Fortenbaugh and Tyler Fulghum — give their best best bets for the SEC.
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
SEC Championship best bets
Alabama Crimson Tide Under 11.5 wins, Miami Hurricanes +18.5 vs. Alabama
Connelly: There’s almost no way that Alabama isn’t fantastic this year. The Crimson Tide have the most talent and the best head coach, and … well … a team that has won six of the last 12 national titles gets the benefit of the doubt. They are the SEC favorites for obvious reasons, but they do still lose games sometimes. They’ve lost their last two trips to Auburn, for instance, and despite being the most dominant program in the sport, last year was their first unbeaten finish in 11 years. They face three teams projected 12th or better in SP+ in 2021, all away from home, and despite projecting them a comfortable No. 1 overall, SP+ only gives the Tide a 15% chance of running the table.
Miami’s one of those projected top-12 teams, and the Canes show up on the very first week of the schedule. Even if you can’t talk yourself into The U having a genuine upset shot, 18.5 points is a lot to give in against a potential top-10 team in your first game with a new starting quarterback and offensive coordinator.
