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The UAB Blazers take on the SMU Mustangs. Check out our college basketball odds series for our UAB SMU prediction and pick. Find how to watch UAB SMU.
The UAB Blazers are gaining momentum this season. They have had a rough go of it, but these last five games have offered cause for real optimism for head coach Andy Kennedy. The Blazers have won four of five to move to 6-2 in the AAC. UAB has just defeated Memphis and North Texas to move into the top four of the conference, which provides a better path to the conference tournament championship and a potential automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
UAB scored 97 points in the win over Memphis. Against North Texas, UAB trailed for a large portion of the game but rallied late to win. UAB has shown that it can win with a flowing, in-form offense, and it has also proved that it can win a rough and rugged game in which the ball isn't bouncing in its favor for most of the night. UAB is growing in confidence and hopes it can get through this next step of a Texas road trip, having come from North Texas to suburban Dallas for this Sunday evening clash against SMU.
Here are the UAB-SMU College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: UAB-SMU Odds
UAB Blazers: +7.5 (-115)
SMU Mustangs: -7.5 (-105)
Over: 151.5 (-110)
Under: 151.5 (-110)
How To Watch UAB vs SMU
Time: 6:00 pm ET / 3:00 pm PT
TV: ESPN2
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Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why UAB Could Cover the Spread
The spread seems really large for this situation. UAB is 6-2 in the AAC while SMU is 5-3. UAB has won four out of its last five while SMU has won only three of its last five. UAB has just beaten Memphis as an outright underdog and then North Texas as an outright underdog. The Blazers are cashing money line tickets as well as spread tickets. Now they play a game in which they can lose by seven points and still cover the spread. It's really hard to argue against the line of thought which says UAB is the right side to lean to in this game. SMU isn't a bad team by any means, but are the Mustangs strong enough and reliable enough that you'd take them to cover a 7.5-point spread against a relatively comparable opponent which is playing well and riding a wave of confidence? You probably wouldn't lean in SMU's direction, and you would also trust Andy Kennedy, who has shown in the past that he can get a team to play its best ball in February and early March, when NCAA Tournament bids hang in the balance.
Why SMU Could Cover the Spread
The argument to make for SMU is that while the Mustangs have won only three of five compared to four of five for UAB, their three recent wins have all come at home. SMU at home is very different from the road version of the Mustangs. SMU playing especially well at home makes sense and would be a perfectly logical reason to take the Ponies against the spread.
The other main reason to pick SMU is that UAB just played a draining overtime game versus North Texas and is in the middle of a multi-game Texas road trip. UAB playing with a measure of fatigue and a lack of focus is a realistic scenario for this game. If that scenario comes to pass, SMU will cover.
Final UAB-SMU Prediction & Pick
The UAB arguments are much more convincing than the SMU arguments. UAB getting this many points feels like a great opportunity to take the Blazers.
Final UAB-SMU Prediction & Pick: UAB +7.5
