College Basketball

College basketball odds: Florida faces tougher SEC road than Kentucky

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:04 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, OddsShark/Sports Illustrated

For the second week in a row, the 11th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats (22-5, 12-2 SEC) and 13th-ranked Florida Gators (22-5, 12-2) will be the two best teams showcased on Tuesday as they look to continue their drive toward the conference title as big betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Both teams picked up a pair of wins last week, and each of them moved up two spots in the latest rankings released on Monday.

Last Tuesday, the Wildcats routed the Tennessee Volunteers 83-58 and covered the spread as 15-point home favorites while the Gators blew out the Auburn Tigers 114-95 and did the same as 10-point road chalk.

But neither of them covered their next wins on Saturday, with Kentucky falling to 3-9 against the spread in its last 12 games overall following an 82-77 win over the Georgia Bulldogs as 7.5-point road favorites.

This Tuesday the Wildcats visit the Missouri Tigers (7-19, 2-12) as double-digit favorites again, and the Gators have a much tougher matchup at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks (20-7, 10-4).

Missouri has picked up just two wins since early December but is 4-1 ATS in its last five games. South Carolina has dropped three of five straight up, going 0-5 ATS.

Two of Wednesday’s top games will take place in the ACC. First, the Syracuse Orange (16-12, 8-7 ACC) host the streaking 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils (22-5, 10-4) before the seventh-ranked Louisville Cardinals (22-5, 10-4) visit the eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels (23-5, 11-3) to close out the doubleheader.

The Orange are clearly on the bubble in terms of the NCAA Tournament due to a three-game skid and face a must-win situation against the Blue Devils, who have won seven in a row. Meanwhile, the Cardinals won 76-72 in overtime at Syracuse on February 13 and have covered three of the past four meetings versus the Tar Heels.

Another key matchup on Wednesday will happen in the Big East when the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats (26-2, 13-2 Big East) host the Butler Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5). Villanova is 7-1 SU in the past eight meetings but has failed to cover the last two, with the total going under in five of the previous six games between the teams.

Finally, Thursday’s best game looks to be in the Pac-12, where the USC Trojans (21-6, 8-6 Pac-12) will try to defeat the fourth-ranked Arizona Wildcats (25-3, 14-1) on the road for the first time since 2008. The Trojans have won only two of the past 10 meetings (3-7 ATS) with the Wildcats, with both of the wins happening on their home court.