SEC Championship Game Preview: Texas A&M vs. Alabama

SEC Tournament Betting Trends & Action Report

The Alabama Crimson Tide are set to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. Alabama won the SEC regular season championship, and the Crimson Tide can double up with a win over the Texas A&M Aggies in the SEC Championship Game on Sunday.

A victory for Alabama could lead to the Crimson Tide earning the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday as Kansas was trounced by Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game and Houston's standout guard Marcus Sasser suffered a groin injury against Cincinnati on Saturday.

The SEC Championship Game will be played on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Texas A&M Aggies vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Prediction

This is a tricky game for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama fell on the road to Texas A&M in its regular season finale as Brandon Miller had one of his worst games of the year.

Miller tried to do too much and went 7 of 23 from the floor and turned the ball over five times before fouling out. The standout freshman should perform much better in the rematch though as he was very good in wins over Mississippi State and Missouri.

Best Bet: Alabama -4.5
Score Prediction: Alabama 77, Texas A&M 65

Texas A&M Aggies vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Odds

Texas A&M Aggies vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Resources

Date: Sunday, Mar. 12, 2023
TV-Time: ESPN, 1:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Bridgestone Arena
Location: Nashville, TN
Matchup
Expert Picks

SEC Tournament Odds

Texas A&M Aggies vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Stats

Texas A&M Aggies
SU: 25-8
ATS: 23-10
O/U: 16-17
PPG: 73.3
OPPG: 65.6

Alabama Crimson Tide
SU: 28-5
ATS: 18-14-1
O/U: 15-17-1
PPG: 82.8
OPPG: 69.5

Straight Up (SU), Against the Spread (ATS), Over-Under (O/U)
Points Per Game (PPG), Opponents Points Per Game (OPPG)

Texas A&M Aggies Betting Analysis

It took some time for Texas A&M to come together as a team this season. The Aggies were 6-5 through their first 11 games with bad losses to Murray State and Wofford. That led to many doubting their potential to make the NCAA Tournament, but the Aggies are 19-3 in their last 22 games and 7-3 against Quad 1 opponents since that point.

Texas A&M is not a very efficient shooting team. The Aggies are making just 32.7% of their threes and 49.8% of their two-point field goals, and that places them in the bottom half of the country in both departments. However, this offense is a top 35 unit per Ken Pomeroy because the Aggies do a superb job of grabbing offensive rebounds and getting to the free throw line. The rebounding is a team effort for Texas A&M as no player has more than 5.7 RPG but five players are averaging at least 4.3 RPG.

Wade Taylor IV is leading the Aggies with 16.4 PPG, and the other player averaging double digits is Tyrece Radford with 13.2 PPG. Henry Coleman III and Julius Marble are both big bodies that are averaging at least 9.0 PPG while making over 52% of their field goals, and Dexter Dennis does a solid job on the boards for a guard. This offense has a problem with turnovers, but the good news is that everyone save Marble is a solid free throw shooter.

Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Analysis

Brandon Miller is the most NBA ready player in college basketball this season. Miller has been fantastic and could be the No. 3 overall pick in June behind Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. He is the primary reason that the Crimson Tide are a national championship contender this season as he is averaging 19.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG while making 45.3% of his field goals and over 40% of his threes despite attempting more than seven treys per game.

Fellow freshman Noah Clowney could be a first-round pick too. Clowney is averaging 9.9 PPG and 8.1 RPG while making 48.4% of his field goals. He should be more of a shot blocking threat and a better defender, but he is pretty solid on the offensive end.

Given the tempo that Nate Oats has Alabama play at, it's impressive that this is arguably the best defense in the country. The Crimson Tide rank first in defensive effective field goal percentage (41.7%), and they rank in the top three in defending two-point and three-point field goals. Opponents are making just 41.6% of their twos and 27.9% of their threes against Alabama on the year. This team does need to cut down on its fouls though as that played a big part in Alabama's earlier loss to Texas A&M last week