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SEC Tournament championship game betting preview: Can LSU upset Tennessee?
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LSU will meet Tennessee in the SEC Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon in Hoover.
Both teams have overcome some notable adversity to get to this point and each are now just 9 innings away from a conference tournament title.
Let’s break down each team’s path to the title game and take a look at the current betting odds:
LSU vs. Tennessee betting odds for the SEC Tournament Championship Game
LSU run line: +1.5 (-114 on FanDuel)
LSU money line: +128 on FanDuel
LSU is the underdog in this game, as it has been for most of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers are 4-0 in Hoover, however.
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Tennessee run line: -1.5 (+114 on DraftKings)
Tennessee money line: -140 on DraftKings
Tennessee is the SEC’s top-seed and swept LSU during their regular-season series in Knoxville. The Vols won all 3 of those games by multiple runs.
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GET THE APPLSU’s path to the SEC Championship Game
When the week began, no one expected the Tigers to still be playing deep into the weekend — let alone in the title game. LSU was the SEC’s No. 11 seed for this tournament, and needed to pull off an upset over No. 6-seeded Georgia in the opening round to even make it to the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
LSU did just that, and then went on to beat Kentucky and South Carolina (twice) en route to the title game. The Tigers are hitting the ball as well as any team in the country this week as they’ve scored 43 runs over their 4 games in Hoover this week.
However, LSU’s pitching has slowed down a bit. After limiting Georgia and Kentucky to a combined 1 run in LSU’s first 2 games, the Tigers conceded a total of 21 runs to the Gamecocks across their last 2 contests.
Tennessee’s path to the SEC Championship Game
Tennessee stole the No. 1 seed away from Kentucky on the last day of the regular season. However, the Vols, along with the SEC’s other top seeds, seemed to squander that by losing in their opening game of the SEC Tournament.
But since losing to Vanderbilt on Wednesday, the Vols have responded with wins over Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt in successive days.
Tennessee last won the SEC Tournament title in 2022.
LSU vs. Tennessee pitching matchups
Both teams are in a difficult situation when it comes to their pitching. Staffs are exhausted after a long week in Hoover, and there’s a short turnaround time to NCAA Tournament regionals starting on Thursday.
According to Knoxville News Sentinel’s Mike Wilson, AJ Russell will take the mound for Tennessee. It will be the second appearance back from injury for Russell, who pitched in Tennessee’s loss to Vanderbilt earlier this week.
Russell has a 4.73 ERA in 13.1 innings so far this season. He’s not expected to go deep into the game as he works his way back from injury.
Tennessee coach Tony Vitello was adamant that the Vols would not exhaust its rotation on Sunday to the point of jeopardizing its chances in the NCAA Tournament. He even hinted at the possibility of position players taking the mound if necessary.
“We’ll use a couple guys and then we’ll probably go to you, to be honest with you,” Vitello said in his post-game press conference on Saturday, via 247Sports. “Or, you know, who knows, Christian Moore thinks he’s available — he’s not — but there’s a couple position guys that could be called on and, hey, we’ll approach it as intelligently as we see fit, it would be disrespectful to not put your best foot forward, but at the same time I don’t think we’re looking to gas anybody out tomorrow that’s already put in good work for us in this tournament and got us to this point.”
The Advocate’s Koki Riley is reporting that Nate Ackenhausen has earned the start for LSU. Ackenhausen has made 3 previous starts this year and owns an ERA of 5.35 across 38.2 innings of work. Ackenhausen has an impressive 48 strikeouts on the year, but is also tied for the team-lead (with Gage Jump) in home runs surrendered this season with 8.
LSU vs. Tennessee prediction
Both teams are operating with pitching staffs that are spent, and neither coach seems willing to jeopardize their NCAA Tournament chances by forcing the issue with a weekend starter on short rest. That’s certainly an understandable decision given the circumstances.
Tennessee has been the more talented team all year long, but I think this game will mean more to LSU. The Tigers have arguably the hottest lineup in the country right now and will be facing a depleted pitching staff for 9 innings.
The primary concern with Ackenhausen is keeping the ball in the yard, but Tennessee’s scoring outputs have been lower-than-usual all week.
PICK: LSU money line (+128 at FanDuel)
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
