Subscribe
Follow Us
The Tennessee Volunteers are set to face the Alabama Crimson Tide in a huge SEC opener. Check out our college basketball odds series, which includes our Tennessee Alabama prediction, odds, and pick.
Both teams have been inconsistent this season, as college basketball odds analysts would tell you. Tennessee has had an up-and-down season, getting pounded by Villanova and putting up only 52 points in an extremely ugly overtime loss to Texas Tech in New York. Yet, Tennessee also crushed North Carolina and recently dealt Arizona its first loss of the college basketball season. It's legitimate to ask, “Which Tennessee team will show up in this game?”
Rick Barnes teams start with defense and have a tendency to bog down at the offensive end of the floor. The Vols need enough perimeter shooting to make defenses respect them. If no one can step up and hit 3-pointers, opponents will pack the paint and shut off dribble penetration, which will limit what Tennessee can achieve on offense. Keep this in mind when considering a Tennessee Alabama pick. Yet, the flip side of this is that if the Vols do get decent long-distance shooting — it doesn't have to be spectacular, just credibly good — Tennessee becomes an immensely tough team to beat, given its defensive chops and its length in protecting the rim.
Alabama, like Tennessee, is a team in search of consistency. The Crimson Tide, when at their best, are extremely good, definitely a Final Four-caliber team. Anyone thinking about a Tennessee Alabama prediction is aware of the ceiling coach Nate Oats' team has. Alabama whacked Gonzaga in Seattle in what was technically a neutral-site game, but was essentially a road game for the Tide. Bama also beat Houston (with Marcus Sasser, who is now out for the rest of the season but played in that game earlier in December) in a classic game a few weeks ago. That game felt like a national semifinal. Alabama can be great.
Yet, the Tide can also lose to Iona, Davidson, and Memphis. Iona and Davidson are good teams. Memphis certainly played well against Bama. Yet, a Final Four team should handle at least two of those games if not all three. Bama went 0-3 against that trio. The variance between the good version of Alabama and the bad version is very large, and that's something Oats has to work on.
Here’s how the bookmakers have set the odds:
College Basketball odds: Tennessee-Alabama Odds
Tennessee: +4.5 (-110)
Alabama: -4.5 (-110)
Over: 148 (-110)
Under: 148 (-110)
Article Continues Below
*Watch College Football Games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)
Why Tennessee Could Cover the Spread
The Vols played elite basketball against Arizona and showed what they are capable of. Their win over North Carolina doesn't look very good right now, given how badly the Tar Heels and the ACC have struggled in the first six weeks of the season. The Arizona win, on the other hand, seems to be an excellent result against a really good team which will get better as the season goes on. College basketball odds analysts are factoring that into the Tennessee Alabama odds. If Tennessee plays the way it did against Arizona, and Alabama is not at its best, that's a Tennessee cover at the very least, maybe an outright win on the road in Tuscaloosa.
Why Alabama Could Cover the Spread
The Crimson Tide's ceiling is higher than Tennessee's ceiling. Alabama showed this with its convincing win over Gonzaga, a preseason No. 1 team, in a hostile partisan environment. Tennessee's win over Arizona was strong, but Bama's win over the Zags is a much more impressive win. If Tennessee and Alabama both play at their best, Bama wins.
Final Tennessee-Alabama Prediction & Pick
Alabama has a higher place it can go to than Tennessee. The Vols have less margin for error here, and they're on the road. The Tide will win by eight points.
Final Tennessee-Alabama Pick: Alabama -4.5
