College Basketball - Alabama at Tennessee (-5, 155½) 8:00 PM EST
Tennessee (18-9, 6-6 SEC East) finds itself in 5th place in their division behind Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Georgia. However, the Volunteers are 3-0 at home against those teams this year, with Florida on the docket next week.
Overall, Tennessee is 14-0 at home and 10-2 against the spread (ATS) there. In this particular match-up, the home team is 7-2 ATS in their last nine head-to-head meetings.
Alabama (19-7, 6-6 SEC West) is in a three-way tie in the SEC West with Mississippi and Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide are just 2-6 away from home this year, although they did have a good shot of upsetting Florida a week ago tonight.
Alabama will try to take advantage of their size down low with Richard Hendrix and Jermareo Davidson, but on the other hand, they have had trouble playing against four-guard offenses all year.
Alabama has won seven games in a row over Tennessee, but to get number eight, they must stop guard Chris Lofton who is leading the SEC in scoring. The Volunteers will use their press defense to forces turnovers, which they hope to turn into layups or open three-point looks.
In terms of importance, this game has greater significance for Tennessee. They just had their three winning streak snapped at South Carolina on Saturday, and Coach Bruce Pearl has stressed the need to win tonight to increase their tournament chances. I like for them to get the job done.
Pick: Tennessee
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Editor's Note: The selection in this column are purely the opinion of the writer, and are not being endorsed by any parties. |
