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It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Missouri-Auburn prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Missouri-Auburn.
There is a full slate of SEC basketball on Saturday. The toughest conference in the country begins a two-and-a-half-month run toward the NCAA Tournament. The SEC has 16 teams this year with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. Of those 16 teams, at least 10 are likely to make the tournament, and as many as 13 or 14 could be in play for March Madness berth. That's not hyperbolic. That's realistic. The SEC has had nearly all of its teams in the top 65 of the NET rankings and has similarly large and overwhelming representation in the top tier of other metrics and other rating systems. No conference will be more interesting to watch than the SEC, so Saturday is appointment television for college sports fans who have watched a lot of football and are ready to sink their teeth into the heart of the basketball season.
The reason why Auburn might be the best team in the country is that the Tigers have made a lot of strong statements in nonconference games preceding the SEC season. Auburn won at Houston. It won against Iowa State in Hawaii. It has hammered Ohio State and Purdue from the Big Ten. Auburn wiped out Memphis. Auburn has a lot of high-quality wins, and most of those wins are by large margins. Bruce Pearl has assembled a tough, hungry, skilled, and balanced team led by Johni Broome, the player many experts think is the best in the country to this point in time. Auburn has a lot of weapons and a lot of ways to win, and it's going to be difficult for the rest of the SEC to stand up to AU in the coming weeks.
Missouri is an SEC team which resides in the lower half of the league, but even then, this team has a very realistic chance of making the NCAA Tournament because the strength of the league is so broad and deep. Missouri would love to win this game, but at the very least, the visitors need to use this Auburn game as a teachable moment, a time to learn how to play better against comparatively more beatable teams as the SEC season moves along.
Here are the Missouri-Auburn College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Missouri-Auburn Odds
Missouri: +18.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +1280
Auburn: -18.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -3500
Over: 154.5 (-105)
Under: 154.5 (-115)
How to Watch Missouri vs Auburn
Time: 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
TV: SEC Network
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Missouri Will Cover The Spread/Win
The spread of nearly 20 points is something Auburn has covered on several occasions this season, but here's the difference: This is a conference game. Conference games are generally more competitive than nonconference games. The Illinois team which just roasted Oregon by nearly 30 points on Thursday night was able to beat Missouri by only three points. Missouri doesn't have to play a great game to cover; it just needs to play a tough, gritty, resilient game in which it doesn't allow Auburn to go on a huge game-busting run.
Why Auburn Will Cover The Spread/Win
Auburn has been beating teams, but more than that, it has been beating them up. Auburn has a large collection of wins of 19 points or more. All Auburn has to do is win by 19 to cover. The number seems daunting, but it really isn't that high when you look at what AU has done for much of the season.
Final Missouri-Auburn Prediction & Pick
Auburn is a total wrecking ball at home. Take Auburn.
Final Missouri-Auburn Prediction & Pick: Auburn -18.5
