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USATSI

While No. 1 Auburn has already clinched the SEC regular season crown, a few other teams in the conference still have work to do to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. No. 4 Tennessee is currently one of the four top seeds in Jerry Palm's latest bracketology projections, with No. 5 Florida and No. 7 Alabama occupying two of the No. 2 seeds. Florida and Alabama have a chance to move up in the pecking order tonight when the two square off in Tuscaloosa at 7 p.m. ET.

Florida at Alabama odds

  • Spread: Alabama -3.5
  • Total: 178.5
  • Money line: Alabama -158, Florida +132

Alabama opened at -3.5 in the only meeting between these teams this regular season and still resides at -3.5 over Florida. The total has been the big mover so far, jumping up from 175.5 to an eye-popping 178.5. The Crimson Tide are -158 on the money line (wager $158 to win $100) per SportsLine consensus, while the Gators are +132 (wager $100 to win $132). 

The SportsLine Projection Model model leans to the Under in this matchup and projects one side of the spread to hit better than 50% of the time. You can see the model's latest projections, along with expert picks for Florida-Alabama, on SportsLine. SportsLine expert Chip Patterson has already locked in a play on the spread for this clash.

Alabama is coming off a brutal defeat to Tennessee in which the Crimson Tide blew a 4-point lead with less than 35 seconds remaining and lost in regulation. They've dropped three of their past five games, with their ranking tumbling from No. 2 to No. 7 over that span. Alabama is averaging 91.0 points per game this season, well ahead of second-place Gonzaga at 87.6. Alabama would become the third major conference team ever to lead the country in scoring in consecutive seasons, joining 2002-04 Arizona and 1998-00 Duke. The Crimson Tide would also be the first major conference team to average at least 90 points in consecutive seasons since 1993-95 Texas. Alabama has six double-digit scorers, headlined by senior guard Mark Sears at 19.1 PPG. 

After a surprising loss to unranked Georgia last Tuesday, Florida bounced back by walloping then-No. 12 Texas A&M by 19 points this past weekend. The Gators are no slouches in the scoring department either, as their 83.8 PPG ranks seventh in all of college basketball. Three senior guards lead the way, with Walter Clayton at 16.9 PPG, Alijah Martin at 14.7 PPG and Will Richard at 13.6 PPG. Florida also has strong depth down low, especially with the return of Micah Handlogten earlier this month after breaking his leg in last year's SEC conference tournament.