College Basketball Odds: Maryland vs. Tennessee prediction, odds

Maryland faces Tennessee. Our college basketball odds series has our Maryland Tennessee prediction, odds and pick.

The Maryland Terrapins take on the Tennessee Volunteers in Brooklyn. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Maryland Tennessee prediction and pick.

The Tennessee Volunteers have to like the way they are playing, but they do have to maintain some perspective about how good they actually are. There is a case to make that Tennessee is one of the 10 best teams in the country, but that argument rests on the Vols' last four games. They drilled Kansas to win the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. In their last three games, they have won by 35 or more points. That's certainly a strong run of games for coach Rick Barnes and his team. However, the last three games Tennessee has played have all been against cupcakes: McNeese State, Alcorn State, and Eastern Kentucky. The Kansas win is truly impressive, but before that, the Vols had not been in top gear. They needed overtime to beat an average USC team in what was a very choppy and uneven game. Earlier in the season, they were hammered in Nashville by Colorado, which is 0-2 in the Pac-12 after losing to Arizona State at home and Washington on the road. Tennessee needs more high-end results against quality teams to build not only its profile, but its identity, heading into SEC competition at the end of December. That's why this is such an important game for the Vols.

Maryland is off to a great start under coach Kevin Willard, who came from Seton Hall and has — to this point — executed a smooth transition in College Park. Maryland is 8-1, its only loss being at Wisconsin in its most recent game. Road trips to Madison and the Kohl Center are no picnic, so Maryland's only loss is certainly not a bad one. The Terrapins previously beat a good Miami team (which is playing well this season and made the Elite Eight one season ago) and handled a ranked Illinois team in their Big Ten opener. Maryland has some very solid results on its resume and has not played an inordinate number of cream puffs. Maryland already has good wins to point to, part of what is shaping up to be an NCAA Tournament resume as long as the Terps can hold their own in the Big Ten. A win here over Tennessee would vault Maryland into the top-four seed conversation and greatly solidify the team's resume heading toward Christmas Day.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Maryland-Tennessee College Basketball odds.

College Basketball Odds: Maryland-Tennessee Odds

Maryland Terrapins: +5.5 (-108)

Tennessee Volunteers: -5.5 (-112)

Over: 134.5 (-110)

Under: 134.5 (-110)

Why Maryland Could Cover the Spread

The Tennessee offense is often a liability. The Vols have scored well in their recent games, but again, those games were against soft opponents. Maryland is not soft. Its loss to Wisconsin was a 64-59 street fight. If Maryland loses a 64-59 game here, it will cover the spread, and it's reasonable to think the Terps can play that kind of game, and maybe even win outright.