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January 17 SEC Basketball Schedule: TV, Tip Times, How to Watch, Streaming, Odds and Picks

A lot of must-wins for the middle of the conference. And should Kentucky be on upset alert?

NCAA Basketball: Tennessee at Vanderbilt Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight’s Schedule

Game Time (ET) TV/Streaming
Arkansas at Texas A&M 7:00 PM SEC Network/WatchESPN
Kentucky at Mississippi State 7:00 PM ESPN/WatchESPN
Vanderbilt at Georgia 9:00 PM ESPNU/WatchESPN
Tennessee at Ole Miss 9:00 PM SEC Network/WatchESPN

Call tonight “Anxiety Night.” With one exception, all of tonight’s games involve one or two teams that absolutely can’t afford a loss. Texas A&M is 1-4 in the SEC and their season seems to be slipping away; a win over Arkansas might change that, but the Razorbacks, at 2-3 in the SEC, can’t really afford a loss here either. Vanderbilt is on a three-game losing streak, while Georgia’s NCAA Tournament hopes are hanging on by a string due to a lack of quality wins — but the Bulldogs don’t want to lose to Vanderbilt at home and give the selection committee an excuse to ding them. Ole Miss has a nice RPI, but the Rebels are out to a 1-4 start in the SEC and may be without Deandre Burnett again.

The one exception is the Kentucky-Mississippi State game; the Bulldogs, off to a 3-1 start with a pair of road wins, are playing with house money here as nobody will hold a loss to Kentucky against them, while the Wildcats are effectively playing for seeding at this point.

Odds and Picks

Season to Date: 64-86-1 ATS

  • Arkansas (+4.5) at Texas A&M: The Aggies are desperate and Arkansas is playing on the road, but considering that A&M’s biggest issue this season has been turnovers... do you really like them laying 4.5 against a team coached by Mike Anderson? I don’t.
  • Kentucky at Mississippi State (+14): I don’t think Mississippi State will win this game outright, but Kentucky’s failed to cover in their last two and seems to be going through the doldrums right now. I expect Mississippi State to hang around and keep it within 14, though this comes with the obvious caveat that if Kentucky is focused they can win this game by 20.
  • Vanderbilt at Georgia (-5): Georgia’s offense is sketchy; Vanderbilt’s defense is sketchier. Look for J.J. Frazier to have a field day in this one.
  • Tennessee at Ole MIss (+2.5): I don’t like laying the points on Tennessee when I’m not sure if Deandre Burnett will play or not, because if he does, that’s a terrible pick. The premise of this is that I have to pick every game, but personally I’d stay the hell away from this if I had that option.