Alabama

SEC football best bets and hot takes, bullish on Georgia, Alabama

Published

2 years ago

June 8, 2024

SEC football best bets and hot takes, bullish on Georgia, Alabama

ATHENS — Somewhere in the summer the College Football Playoffs will be won via offseason workouts, planning and roster acquisition and attrition.

In the meantime, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas are preparing to set up some bets on the over/under number of games teams will win.

Much can change between now and noon on Aug. 31, when Georgia and Clemson kick off the SEC season in Atlanta.

For now, here’s a way-too-early quick take on these way-too-early odds on SEC win totals:

Georgia 10.5 (Over)

Alabama might bite the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, an Texas might trip Kirby in Austin, but it seems unlikely both teams beat Carson Beck or that the Heisman co-favorite gets upset by another team on the schedule.

Texas 10.5 (Under)

Steve Sarkisian has a high-powered offense and a slick presentation, but the week-to-week physicality in the SEC will keep the Longhorns under.

Alabama 9.5 (Over)

Kalen DeBoer comes off as a positive feel-good coach with a creative offensive mind, and with Jalen Milroe on the upswing that’s enough to be optimistic.

Ole Miss 9.5 (Over)

Lane Kiffin has put together a transfer class like no other and has a friendly schedule that features just one losable road game (at LSU).

LSU 9.5 (Under)

Brian Kelly is a hall of fame coach with tremendous resources, but the Bayou Bengals have lost just enough firepower, including Jayden Daniels, to hit the 10-win mark even with a favorable schedule.

Missouri 9.5 (Under)

Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers are still celebrating their bowl win over Ohio State, but this program has yet to prove it can handle success, even with one of the easier schedules in the league.

Every SEC teams football schedule in 2024

Tennessee 9 (Under)

Josh Heupel runs a high-powered offense and Nico Lamaleava has the look of a legit dual-threat, but Alabama and Georgia look like losses and it seems likely the Vols will drop another one.

Texas A&M 8.5 (Under)

Mike Elko has proven an effective head coach, but there are too many moving parts to believe the Aggies will win more than eight games.

Oklahoma 7.5 (Over)

Call it a hunch, but the bet here is Brent Venables will have a strong third season as head coach and get the Sooners booming enough to win eight games in the regular season.

Auburn 7.5 (Over)

There’s not a tougher team to peg than Auburn, and that’s a compliment to Hugh Freeze who was a play or two away from beating Alabama and Georgia. The Tigers figure to improve.

Kentucky 6.5 (Over)

The bet here is on Brock Vandagriff and Jamon Dumas-Johnson, two of Georgia’s better leaders that took their games to Lexington under the direction of underrated coach Mark Stoops.

South Carolina 5.5 (Under)

Everyone likes Shane Beamer, but the feel-good has worn-off and the Gamecocks seem to be lacking in firepower.

Arkansas 4.5 (Over)

Sam Pittman has added Bobby Petrino, and unlike Jimbo Fisher, he’ll have the wisdom to allow Petrino to work his magic. What the Hogs lack in talent, they’ll make up for in chemistry and coaching.

Mississippi State 4.5 (Under)

New head coach (checks notes) JEFF LEBBY seems like an uninspiring hire with very little to work with. The Maroon Bulldogs face an uphill climb.

Florida 4.5 (Over)

The Gators are going to be better than people think, to the extent that a fast start to the season should be enough to propel the team into bowl eligibility even with a loaded back half.

Vanderbilt 2.5 (Over)

Wins over Alcorn State, Georgia State and Ball State will be enough to win the bet for anyone who feels the need to bet money on Vanderbilt football.

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Alabama

Tennessee football will be chasing different teams for SEC supremacy | Adams

Published

8 hours ago

May 31, 2026

Press Room

Tennessee football will be chasing different teams for SEC supremacy | Adams

After the SEC added Texas and Oklahoma for the 2024 football season, I split the conference in half for evaluation purposes.

My top half: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Texas A&M.

These teams comprised my bottom half: Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

Track records and NIL support factored into my rankings. The latter is obviously a challenge, because NIL money isn’t well documented. So, my rankings were an educated guess at best.

I singled out Texas, Texas A&M, and LSU because of their obvious NIL resources. All three are loaded. Tennessee probably has as much NIL power as any other SEC program.

The Vols will play Texas, Texas A&M, and LSU this season. So, they will face a greater challenge than in 2024 and 2025 when the SEC’s interim schedules were in place.

But projecting future success and failure in the NIL era of SEC football is hardly an exact science. And I’m already questioning my preliminary rankings. Four schools stick out: Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Missouri, and Vanderbilt

Oklahoma went 6-7 (2-6 in the SEC) in 2024 but made the College Football Playoff last season, only to lose in the first round to Alabama. That’s not what I expected from one of college football’s most prestigious programs.

Perhaps, the Sooners don’t have as much NIL money as the SEC’s most affluent members. Now, I’m wondering if they even can keep up with in-state rival Oklahoma State, which has been on a spending spree in multiple sports, including football.

Ole Miss has been a surprise in a good way. Former coach Lane Kiffin became the “Portal King” because of his relentless recruiting of highly touted transfers. But he couldn’t accomplish as much just on his track record or name recognition. He needed money.

And the Rebels provided it, which helps explain how they went 34-7 from 2023 through 2025.

Missouri has fared better than expected. The Tigers are 29-10 for the past three seasons. I thought there was a better chance of coach Eli Drinkwitz getting fired than winning 29 of 39 games in three seasons of NIL football.

Vanderbilt’s success has been stunning, though you must wonder whether it’s sustainable. The Commodores’ 10-3 record in 2025 was mainly a testament to the play of quarterback Diego Pavia, who was the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Fernando Mendoza.

Florida and Auburn are wildcards.

The Gators were slow coming out of the NIL gate. They also have a recent history of hiring more bad coaches than good ones.

Maybe, they got it right with Jon Sumrall. And perhaps, Auburn did the same with Alex Golesh. But the Tigers were wrong about their previous two hires, Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze.

Texas, LSU and Texas also have missed on coaches. But they have the money to buy their way out of a bad deal.

The Aggies paid Jimbo Fisher a $77 million buyout in November 2023. LSU had to pay Brian Kelly $54 million after firing him in October 2025.

Such spending tells me Tennessee will have more difficulty long-term keeping up with Texas, Texas A&M and LSU than they will with traditional SEC powers like Georgia and Alabama.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.

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Alabama

Live Game, Weather Updates: Tuscaloosa Baseball Regional, No. 7 Alabama vs. USC Upstate

Published

19 hours ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

Live Game, Weather Updates: Tuscaloosa Baseball Regional, No. 7 Alabama vs. USC Upstate

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – 7-seeded Alabama continues NCAA regional action in the Tuscaloosa Regional on Saturday against USC Upstate. The Crimson Tide is coming off a monstrous offensive effort on Friday that saw the team score the most runs in program NCAA Tournament history with 21. The Spartans scored in each of the first four innings to upset Oklahoma State and advance to Saturday’s winner’s bracket game.

Alabama Baseball Regional Tournament Central: Schedule, How to Watch, Bracket Breakdown

Live Updates (Refresh Your Browser For Latest Updates at the Top)

Pregame

Tonight’s start time has been delayed as we’ve entered a weather delay.

Alabama vs. USC Upstate will have a first pitch time of 6:23 p.m. CT. The grounds crew is currently tending the field in between matchups.

5:13 p.m. CT – Oklahoma State beat Alabama State 8-7 in 11 innings to eliminate the Hornets from the Tuscaloosa Regional. The Cowboys move into tomorrow’s elimination game against the loser of Alabama and USC Upstate on Sunday.

Starting Lineups

USC Upstate

Alabama

How to Watch: 7-Seed Alabama vs. USC Upstate in the Tuscaloosa Regional

Who: 7-seed Alabama (38-19, 18-12 SEC) vs. USC Upstate (34-28, 13-11 Big South Conference)

What: NCAA Regional Game 4

When: Saturday, May 30, 6 p.m. CT

Where: Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

TV: ESPN +

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network. LISTEN LIVE

Series: Alabama and USC Upstate have never played in baseball.

Last Meeting: The Crimson Tide and Spartans have never played in baseball.

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide used 15 hits, and took advantage of eight walks, four errors, and four wild pitches to beat Alabama State 21-3 in their first NCAA Regional matchup of the weekend. Alabama had four different players hit home runs as the Crimson Tide cruised to an easy win.

Last time out, USC Upstate: The Spartans upset Oklahoma State 8-5 in their first game of the NCAA Regional. USC Upstate struck out 10 batters and scored in each of the first four innings to upset the Cowboys.

Tuscaloosa Regional Information

Alabama, (37-19)
Oklahoma State, (37-20)
USC Upstate, (31-27)
Alabama State, (31-21)

Friday

Game 1 – #2 Oklahoma St. (37-20) vs. #3 USC Upstate (33-28), 1 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Game 2 – #1 Alabama (37-19) vs. #4 Alabama St. (34-21), 6 p.m. CT, SEC Network

Saturday

Game 3 – Oklahoma State vs. Alabama State – 1 p.m. CT
Game 4 – USC Upstate vs. Alabama – 6 p.m. CT

Sunday

Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 – 2 p.m. CT
Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 – 7 p.m. CT

Monday

Game 7 – IF Necessary – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 – TBD

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Alabama

Oklahoma State Baseball Live Scoring for NCAA Regional vs. Alabama State

Published

1 day ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma State Baseball Live Scoring for NCAA Regional vs. Alabama State

The Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Alabama State Hornets meet in the first game of Saturday’s action at the Tuscaloosa Regional on Saturday.

The Cowboys (37-21) and the Hornets lost their first games of the tournament on Friday. The loser of this game will be eliminated. The winner of this game will advance to another elimination game on Sunday between the loser of the USC Upstate-Alabama game, which follows OSU-ASU

Oklahoma State fans can keep up with the game here, including lineups and inning by inning details on the game. Check out Oklahoma State On SI’s NCAA Tournament Central for everything related to the Tuscaloosa Regional.