SEC Football Wagering : A Season of Transition

• 16 July 2015

SEC Football wagering really does denote a season in transition.  At the end of the annual Media Days, over 1,000 media members are given ballots to project the order of finish.  Usually this forms the bedrock of stability with the likes of Alabama penciled in.  This year saw some stark differences that are not only eye brow raising but demonstrate the great value in betting on SEC football this year.  Your hunch will have more punch with all the unpredictability for 2015.

SEC Football Wagering : Auburn and Alabama

The first curious case comes with the SEC West.  Here we have Auburn selected to win the conference with 96 first place votes.  However look at the degree of flux as the points that each team received flip flopped this.  Bama had 1,405 votes while Auburn got 1,362.  So Auburn would finish first more often than Bama but the Crimson Tide would almost always come in second.  However when Bama was chosen first, the strength of the Tigers came into question more.  Polarizing thoughts on Auburn this year.

Lonely Vandy

Only one team did not receive any votes to win the division.  Vanderbilt has that dubious honor.  Even a slumping Kentucky got the benefit of the doubt from a voter.  These two teams make up the bottom of the SEC East.  The gap at the top is more pronounced with Georgia having an immense lead over second place Tennessee     Missouri follows close behind.  The Spurrier teams of present and past languish behind the top three but are still above Kentucky and Vandy.

Finally, this last point of fluctuation comes into play.  The media in all their collective wisdom  have gotten it right only five years since 1992.  With the Tigers projected to win the SEC Championship while having Bama win the SEC West is an impossibility.  The one thing we suspect is that this level of unpredictability will work for the savvy handicapper in terms of better prices on futures and upsets.  Good fortune and get your groove on the SEC for 2015.