Arkansas
The Daily Sweat: Alabama-Arkansas shows the fantastic depth of SEC basketball
The SEC is a soccer league and at all times might be. However the league has discovered that being good at basketball is fairly cool too.
The SEC has three groups within the KenPom prime 10, and Kentucky is not one in every of them. Two of the higher groups in faculty basketball face off Wednesday when Alabama performs at Arkansas. Alabama is seventh in KenPom’s rankings and Arkansas is tenth. Tennessee is best than them each at No. 2.
The SEC has a number of Remaining 4 contenders this season. Alabama is clearly one. Arkansas may be, although there are extra questions with the Razorbacks as a result of accidents. Arkansas is a 1.5-point residence underdog at BetMGM towards Alabama on Wednesday evening.
Alabama was actually good two seasons in the past, simply OK final season and is again among the many sport’s elite this season. The Crimson Tide play quick and are good on offense and protection for coach Nate Oats. They shoot lots of 3s and are good at forcing missed photographs on protection. Freshman Brandon Miller has been nice for the Crimson Tide and he has lots of assist. Alabama is 13-2 and the one losses have been to UConn and Gonzaga. The Crimson Tide simply beat Kentucky by 26 factors final weekend.
Alabama is excellent. Arkansas is simply too however the Razorbacks’ story is a bit more difficult.
Freshman Nick Smith Jr., projected as a top-five NBA draft decide, has been out with “knee administration.” Arkansas has mentioned he in all probability will not be again in January. Trevon Brazile, an athletic 6-10 sophomore, tore his ACL earlier this season. And Arkansas has nonetheless been superb regardless of key accidents. The Razorbacks nonetheless have not misplaced at residence this season. There is a large upside lingering if Smith can get wholesome earlier than March.
For a few years, the SEC was largely Kentucky and nothing else. Different faculties have been apprehensive about soccer. Then there have been some nice teaching hires within the convention and the SEC has raised its profile. Wednesday evening is an effective instance of how far the league has come.
Here is a primary have a look at the sports activities betting slate for Wednesday:
Extra faculty hoops
With soccer winding down, it isn’t too lengthy till March Insanity is right here. Wednesday’s large faculty basketball slate is an effective time to get acquainted with some future event groups.
One crew that has develop into a shock nationwide championship contender is UConn, and on Wednesday they’ve a tricky street match at Marquette. UConn is a 2.5-point favourite. Marquette is 13-4 and the 4 shut losses have been to Purdue on the street, Mississippi State, Wisconsin in extra time and Windfall in double extra time. UConn misplaced street video games to Xavier and Windfall however bounced again to beat Creighton at residence. Marquette might be a tricky out at residence, and the way in which for UConn to additional its case as a title contender is profitable street video games like this one.
One other sport price monitoring is TCU at Texas. The Massive 12 is superior this season.TCU has performed very nicely since an unimpressive begin and Texas has continued to win after coach Chris Beard was suspended and fired after an arrest for home violence. Texas is a 5.5-point favourite.
NBA has 8 video games
It is a good evening within the NBA as nicely. The ESPN doubleheader begins with the Milwaukee Bucks, who’ve been struggling a bit recently with out Khris Middleton, on the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks are favored by 2.5. The second sport of the doubleheader is the Phoenix Suns towards the red-hot Denver Nuggets, which is an effective probability to look at Nikola Jokic, who’s making a push for his third straight MVP. Denver is an enormous 12.5-point favourite. That appears excessive even towards a shorthanded Suns crew, although the Nuggets have been blowing groups out at residence recently.
Some hockey as nicely
There are 4 video games on the ice. The sport to regulate is the San Jose Sharks on the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have been good to bettors recently, although they’re a -200 favourite. Maybe the Sharks are the worth.
What’s one of the best guess?
I do not love going with small street favorites in faculty basketball. Residence courtroom benefit is tough to beat. However I nonetheless lean towards Alabama. Nevertheless, I really feel a little bit bit higher about taking Marquette as a house underdog for one of the best guess.