Ole Miss vs. Auburn: SEC Tournament Predictions (Friday)
The SEC Tournament has finally made it to the semi-finals, where the biggest teams in the league and the sport are. As the NCAA Tournament currently projects, 13 different SEC teams are in the tournament with the conference ranking as one of the best in the KenPom era.
Even No. 16 seed South Carolina got some heralded wins and might've been a tournament team if it was in the ACC. But the focus is on the top. Auburn finally gets going as the consensus favorite to win the SEC tournament at +155, followed close behind by Florida (+210), Alabama (+449) and Tennessee (+550).
Not only are these the top SEC teams but all four rank in the top six nationally, per KenPom. There's a decent chance your National Champion is in that group. Johni Broome is battling with Cooper Flagg for the John R. Wooden Award and Auburn is fighting Duke for title favorites but there is no question: The SEC is the best conference this year. Now, we get to watch these teams play for an SEC crown before we kick off March Madness.
Here are our top picks for today’s SEC Tournament games Ole Miss vs. Auburn.
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Friday’s Best SEC Tournament Bets: Ole Miss vs. Auburn
Ole Miss vs. Auburn
Location: Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN
Line: Auburn -11.5 | Total: 154.5
After fending off Arkansas' second-half run with a last-second three by Sean Pedulla, Ole Miss lives to fight another day against No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers. These two faced off twice with Ole Miss dropping at home 92-82 in early February and 106-76 a few weeks back. It makes sense why the line is where it's at.
Auburn will attack with the best offense in the nation. They don't turn the ball over and they dominate the inside with a top-50 offensive rebounding clip, leading them to a top-10 field goal rate. Johni Broome anchors this team but any single player can go off at any given time whether it's Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford, Miles Kelly or Dylan Cardwell. On paper, this is the most talented team in the nation. To go with it, they rank 13th in defensive efficiency with a top-10 perimeter defense.
I simply don't see how Ole Miss is going to stop the Tigers after allowing over 90 points in both outings. This is in large part due to their lack of rebound ability, ranking outside the top 230 in both offensive and defensive rebound rates. They also foul at a high clip, which will give plenty of opportunity for the Auburn slashing guards and Broome to get to the charity stripe.
The only thing I may question here is Auburn's effort levels. They've essentially locked up the No. 1 overall seed, but given that they lost the last two regular season games, I imagine they have a chip on their shoulder to prove why they’re the league’s best team. Being a double-digit favorite is a lot, but I'm going to trust the best unit in the league and take the Auburn team total over.
Prediction: Auburn 85, Ole Miss 74
Best Bet: Auburn Team Total Over 83.5 Points (-105 at DraftKings Sportsbook)