December 19 SEC Basketball Schedule: Time, TV, Streaming, Odds, and Picks

Tonight’s Schedule

The highlights of the SEC’s Tuesday night schedule are the basketball counterparts to two of the designated Thanksgiving weekend out of conference football rivalries. At 7 PM ET, the South Carolina Gamecocks travel to play the 9-1 Clemson Tigers, and at 9 PM ET, the Georgia Bulldogs host the 5-4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets; both games will be televised on ESPN2. Clemson is coming off a win over Florida on Saturday; Georgia is looking to bounce back from a 10-point loss at UMass on Saturday. South Carolina is playing its first game since a last-second win over Coastal Carolina on December 9.

As for the rest of the schedule, the most intriguing game might well be the Auburn Tigers going on the road to play the 7-2 Murray State Racers. Murray State is always good at home, though they did lose to Middle Tennessee there earlier this year, and this is the kind of game that power teams often shy away from, so kudos to Bruce Pearl for scheduling this game. Of course, you’ll have to stream this game: it’s not on TV, but can be found on the OVC Digital Network.

The Alabama Crimson Tide have a mildly interesting game against the 6-5 Mercer Bears, who are currently ranked #103 in KenPom. That game will be played at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. The Missouri Tigers host the 10-1 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, who won at LSU on Saturday.

The remaining games are likely mismatches. The Northern Kentucky Norse are 7-4 and ranked #86 in KenPom; still, KenPom gives them just a 7% chance of winning at the Texas A&M Aggies. The LSU Tigers are given an 87% chance of beating the 6-5 Sam Houston State Bearkats, but that’s much more a reflection on LSU than Sam Houston State, which has a record inflated by four non-Division I wins. The Ole Miss Rebels host the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, who haven’t beaten a Division I team this season. And the Arkansas Razorbacks are given a 96% chance of beating the 4-9 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, which actually lost to Division II Southern Nazarene earlier this month.

Bad Gambling Advice

Season to Date: 39-37-1 ATS

• South Carolina (+7) at Clemson: What have I told you about rivalry games? Also, Clemson is probably slightly overvalued after winning what was basically a road game against Florida on Saturday.
• Texas A&M-CC (+16) at Ole Miss: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is bad, but not terrible, and Ole Miss has lost eight in a row ATS. I simply do not trust the Rebels to cover 16 right now.
• Northern Kentucky at Texas A&M (-13.5): Northern Kentucky is hardly a bad team, but Texas A&M is a buzzsaw right now. Admon Gilder is expected to be out but that maybe means they win this by 15 instead of 20.
• Oral Roberts at Arkansas (-23): Arkansas facing a bad team at home is normally a good bet. 23 points is a lot, but we’re talking about a team that lost to a Division II team earlier this month.
• Auburn at Murray State (+4): Bruce Pearl, why on earth did you schedule this game?
• Georgia Tech at Georgia (-4.5): I’m going against my normal rivalry game advice here because Georgia Tech is bad, and Georgia only laying 4.5 is actually good value here.
• Mercer vs. Alabama (-7.5): The numbers make Mercer look good, but they’re more of a “beats up on other mid-majors” team than one that will actually be competitive with a team that has Collin Sexton on the roster.
• Stephen F. Austin (+15) at Missouri: This isn’t meant as a knock on Missouri, but what the hell are the oddsmakers thinking giving Stephen F. Austin 15 points?