The Missouri Tigers take on the Tennessee Volunteers. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Missouri Tennessee prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Missouri Tennessee.
The Tennessee Volunteers have obvious flaws, and those flaws continue to be exploited. The Vols just don't have an elite playmaker or scorer who can rise above everything else when a game gets dragged into the mud and the flow of an offense ceases to exist. Rick Barnes-coached teams at Tennessee have often fit this profile. The defense is tremendous, but the offense is vulnerable to an inefficient game. It's not just the lack of made shots, but the lack of a player who can create easy looks and finish plays near the rim by dominating his one-on-one matchup. Tennessee is built to crash the offensive glass and put back misses. UT teams regularly have a lot of length, which is extremely disruptive on defense and can play volleyball on the backboard. However, if opposing teams seal out the Vols on the offensive glass, Tennessee needs to create good shots with its initial offense. If the jump shooters aren't hitting at a reasonable clip, opponents pack the paint and dare the Vols to beat them from the outside. It's a tenuous situation, and everyone knows it. Tennessee has lost to Florida and Vanderbilt in the past week and a half while scoring just 46 points in a win over Auburn. The Vols need an offensive changeup if they want to go deep into March.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Missouri-Tennessee College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Missouri-Tennessee Odds
Missouri Tigers: +11.5 (-102)
Tennessee Volunteers: -11.5 (-120)
Over: 141.5 (-110)
Under: 141.5 (-110)
How To Watch Missouri vs. Tennessee
TV: SEC Network
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET, 3:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Missouri-Tennessee LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Missouri Could Cover the Spread
The spread is large for a Tennessee team which has plainly struggled to score over the past 11 days. Tennessee's offense struggling in February and March is one of the most reliable, predictable things to happen each college basketball season, and it is happening again. Missouri's offense is playing well, so as long as the Tigers get a reasonably good shooting performance from their roster in this game, their defense won't need to be spectacular to keep the game fairly close. Going up against a bad offensive team should be the tonic Missouri needs to cover the spread.
Why Tennessee Could Cover the Spread
The Vols are facing a Missouri team which is simply atrocious on the road. Missouri lost at Mississippi State one week ago. The Tigers have also lost at Florida, at Texas A&M, and at Arkansas. Those are not top-tier SEC teams, but bubble teams or teams which will be, at best, mid-level seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Missouri has also played very poor defense. South Carolina's struggling offense put up 74 points against the Tigers earlier this week, and that was on Mizzou's home floor. In a road game, Missouri's defense is likely to struggle. Tennessee's offense will get healthy against this specific opponent.
Final Missouri-Tennessee Prediction & Pick
Tennessee has a chance to get healthy against Missouri's porous road-game defense. This is a matchup which should work really well for the Vols, who will win by 17 and get a respite from drama.
Final Missouri-Tennessee Prediction & Pick: Tennessee -11.5
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