SEC football odds 2020: Alabama, Georgia the prohibitive favorites

Alabama and Georgia are the favorites in season-opening SEC football odds.

Whether in the SEC or in college football at large, no team was touching the LSU Tigers last season as Ed Orgeron’s group submitted one of the most dominant campaigns ever. But 2020 is a new year — and a very different one at that — and the old sheriffs in the conference appear primed to take charge once again. At least that’s what the season-opening SEC football odds are telling us.

Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide, despite the departure of Tua Tagovailoa, open as the heavy favorites to come out of the SEC at EVEN odds, according to the Las Vegas Superbook. That stands to reason as, even without their quarterback and top-two wide receivers from last season, the Tide return one of the most experienced and, as per usual, talented rosters in the country in 2020.

Just behind Bama is the Georgia Bulldogs as Kirby Smart’s team has 11/4 odds to reign supreme in SEC football this season. Though the Dawgs lost their own experienced quarterback to the draft, they could have the best defense in college football and the team has high hopes for grad transfer Jamie Newman at quarterback. Thus, the odds project them to come out of the East division.

Let’s take a look at the full SEC football odds for the 2020 season, via Brett McMurphy of Stadium.

• Bama: Even
• Georgia: 11/4
• Florida: 6/1
• Texas A&M: 16/1
• Auburn, LSU: 20/1
• Tennessee: 60/1
• Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina:100/1
• Mississippi State, Missouri: 200/1
• Arkansas: 1,000/1
• Vanderbilt: 2,000/1

Do the opening SEC football odds have it right?

Overall, the opening odds appear to be right on the money with the way the 2020 SEC football season is likely to play out. Alabama and Georgia are two of the best teams in the country, regardless of conference, so it stands to reason that they’re the favorites to meet in the conference championship game.

Beyond that, Florida is the best challenger to the Bulldogs and the Gators aren’t substantially far behind. By the same token, teams like Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn are the most likely to give the Crimson Tide a run, yet they are definitively a tier below Alabama as well, which the odds clearly reflect. The same is true for Tennessee, who is below that top group but sits in a single-team gray area above the bottom tier.

Perhaps the best longshot bet in the SEC is Mississippi State with the arrival of head coach Mike Leach and quarterback K.J. Costello. On paper, they’re no match for any of the favorites in the conference. But in a season with unprecedented circumstances surrounding it, crazier things have happened than a talented quarterback in an air raid offense taking the league by storm.

The safe money, however, is still Alabama and Georgia. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs are rightfully the favorites to win the SEC this season and, frankly, anything other than those two teams meeting in the SEC Championship Game would have to be considered a shocking outcome.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.