The Penn State Nittany Lions take on the Texas A&M Aggies. Our March Madness odds series has our Penn State Texas A&M prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Penn State Texas A&M.
The SEC basketball season produced a big surprise: Texas A&M finished higher in the standings than Kentucky and Tennessee and Auburn and Arkansas and Florida. The Aggies finished second in the SEC, behind only Alabama … and they defeated the Crimson Tide in the regular-season finale. Texas A&M went 15-3 in the 18-game SEC regular season, then won two games to make the SEC Tournament final before Alabama avenged its loss to the Aggies. Overall, A&M went 17-4 in 21 games against SEC opponents this season, a fabulous result for head coach Buzz Williams, who has now taken A&M to the NCAA Tournament after doing the same at Marquette and Virginia Tech. Williams might not be an elite coach, but he is certainly a well-above-average coach. He keeps going to places without a massive national profile and winning lots of games. His very unusual coaching career — not coaching any blue bloods or elite schools, but always doing more with less at non-powerhouse programs — is very much worth appreciating. Williams gets a crack at Penn State in this year's Big Dance.
Here are the Penn State-Texas A&M March Madness odds, courtesy of FanDuel:
March Madness Odds: Penn State-Texas A&M Odds
Penn State Nittany Lions: +2.5 (-102)
Texas A&M Aggies: -2.5 (-120)
Over: 134.5 (-115)
Under: 134.5 (-105)
How To Watch Penn State vs. Texas A&M
TV: TBS
Stream: CBSSports.com, March Madness app, fuboTV
Time: 9:55 p.m. ET, 6:55 p.m. PT
*Watch Penn State-Texas A&M LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Penn State Could Cover The Spread
If the Texas A&M Aggies keep winning, that would certainly be impressive, but let's be honest: After winning 17 of 21 games in SEC play, the Aggies — who have fought so hard all season long — might finally be spent. This team might run out of fuel after frankly overachieving for the past two and a half months. Penn State has not been consistently good all season long, which might seem like a reason to pick against the Nittany Lions, not for them. However, the reality of PSU's inconsistency is accompanied by the realization that PSU is playing its best basketball of the season right now. Penn State beat Northwestern twice, both times away from home. The Nittany Lions beat Illinois in Chicago. They beat Indiana as well. They won three games in three days to reach the Big Ten Tournament final, and they trailed Purdue by only one point in the final 30 seconds before ultimately falling to the Boilermakers, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State is on a roll, and that roll can continue for one more game against a Texas A&M team which does not have a superstar-level scorer who can dominate the action.
Why Texas A&M Could Cover The Spread
Texas A&M comes from a conference, the SEC, which has been better than the Big Ten this season. The Big Ten is a conference in which Northwestern finished in second place. Northwestern is a good team, but not a great team. If Northwestern is the second-place team in a Power Five conference, chances are that Power Five conference isn't particularly strong. A&M should enjoy playing a Big Ten team in the Big Dance.
Final Penn State-Texas A&M Prediction & Pick
The weakness of the Big Ten is going to show up here. Take Buzz Williams and A&M in this one.
Final Penn State-Texas A&M Prediction & Pick: Texas A&M -2.5
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