No. 5 Florida tries to sweep No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville

In last meeting the Gators dominated the ‘Vols’ in ‘The Swamp’, 73-43. Tennessee is currently on a two-game skid, and look to bounce back at home after losing to No. 1 Auburn on the plains, before losing to No.12 Kentucky in Knoxville. For the Gators its all about two players, Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin. Although Walter Clayton Jr. only had 7 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in the last game against Tennessee, he has gotten hot lately, scoring double-digit points in each of his last five games . Meanwhile the senior Guard Alijah Martin, who had 18 points and 6 rebounds in the last meeting against the ‘Vols’, has also been hot over the last 5 games. Martin is putting up great numbers this season, and if the Gators want to get a massive win on the road, Clayton Jr and Martin are going to have to produce big games.

On the ‘Vols’ side, they are coming off a horrendous shooting night (34.7%) against No. 12 Kentucky, including a horrible 11-41 from beyond the arc. The one player who seemed to be able to shoot the ball was Igor Milicic Jr., who finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists. He also shot 50% from beyond the arc against Kentucky. If Tennessee is going to keep up with the Gators, their shot selection and shot making needs to be much better, as well as their defense coming of arguably their worst defensive game. Everything needs to be better for the Vols.

Best Bet: Florida +4.5 (-110) on FanDuel

No. 23 Ole Miss tries to shock the world and upset No.1 Auburn in Oxford.

The Rebels where finally able to break their three-game losing streak at home against Texas on Tuesday night. Auburn has been on cruise control in SEC play and picked up another win in Baton Rouge this Wednesday. The win moved the Tigers to 19-1 this season, matching their best start in program history. The Tigers are rolling into Oxford. Forward Johni Broome carried Auburn to victory against LSU, finishing with 26 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks. With Broome looking fully healthy it’s gonna be hard for anyone to stop the Tigers. If he plays well in Oxford, it’s going to be extremely hard for Sean Pedulla and company to stop Auburn from moving to 20-1 and 8-0 in conference play. Malik Dia has came back to earth after his massive performance in Tuscaloosa, but if the Rebels are gonna pull off the upset he’s gonna need to have another one of those games. Ole Miss’s leading scorer Sean Pedulla has been playing extremely well for the Rebels this season, averaging 14.5 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds, while shooting 39.8% from beyond the arc. If he is able to hit some shots Ole Miss will definitely be able to keep the game close and give Auburn all it can handle.

Best Bet: Auburn -6.5 (-110) on FanDuel

Red Hot No. 6 Houston take on No. 22 Texas Tech in a ranked Big 12 battle in Houston

The ‘Cougs’ have been on fire in conference play moving to 9-0 after dominating West Virginia in Morgantown. L.J. Cryer has been great for the ‘Cougs’, dropping a 17 point masterclass against the Mountaineers. He did that despite not playing great against No. 12 Kansas, only having 9 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds in that game. Houston went in to Allen Fieldhouse and beat the No. 12 ranked Jayhawks in double overtime despite being down 4 with 20 seconds to in regulation, and then being down 6 with 10 seconds to go in the first overtime. Senior forward J’wan Roberts had a massive game against Kansas dropping 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in that game. Roberts and Cryer will be the keys for Houston as they look to continue their success in conference play.

The Red Raiders are on five-game win streak in conference play, which includes a 16-point win against Arizona. Lead by leading score JT Toppin, the sophomore forward is averaging great numbers this season. Toppin is leading the Red Raiders in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game along with 8.9 rebounds and 1 assist per game. Senior Guard Chance McMillian is also going to need to come up big. He is averaging 15 points per game and shooting a stellar 46.2% from three-point range this season. If Texas Tech wants to keep up with the Cougars in Houston, McMillian needs to hit some big shots to keep them in the game.

Best Bet: Houston -8.5 (-110) on FanDuel 

North Carolina looks to stun No. 2 Duke in a big ACC rivalry game in Durham

North Carolina is not living up expectations at all this season after starting year ranked inside the top 10. They are now unranked and coming into this game with a 13-9 record on the year. Despite this, weird things happen in rivalries of this magnitude, and whether both teams are good, or one is good and the other is bad the game between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils is always close. In their three games at Cameron Indoor the Tar Heels are 2-1 and even swept the Blue Devils in their two games last season. Despite losing three of their last 4 games, including losses at Pitt and Wake Forest and to Stanford at home, which leads them to be 13.5-point underdogs against the Blue Devils. If the Tar Heels are to pull of the miracle RJ Davis needs to have a massive game, which in his career he hasn’t posted great stats against Duke, averaging 14.9 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.3 rebounds against Duke. In this rivalry’s long history, unranked North Carolina teams are just 4-15 against top-five Duke squads, although the Tar-Heels have won two in a row in that scenario.

Duke on the other hand is 10-0 in conference play and on 14 game win-streak after tough early season losses to Kentucky and Kansas. Duke is led by freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, who is currently leading the Blue Devils in season averages in points, assists and rebounds per game. Flagg, who is most likely the No.1 overall pick in the NBA draft this year baring anything insane, is averaging 19.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. In his first game in this storied rivalry I would expect Flagg to have a huge game, although he has faltered in clutch moments this year, turning the ball over in the dying moments of both of their losses this season. Freshman guard Kon Knueppel has also been having a very good season for the Blue Devils, averaging 13.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game this season. Both freshman have been incredible for Duke leading them to this 10-0 start in conference play. One would expect the Blue Devils to dominate after seeing where both of these teams are at right now.

Best Bet: Duke (-13.5) on FanDuel

BONUS BETS

No. 20 Missouri @ No. 14 Mississippi State 

Mississippi State -6.5 (-110) on FanDuel 

Georgia @ No. 4 Alabama

Alabama -11.5 (-110) on FanDuel

No. 25 UConn @ No. 7 Marquette

Marquette -7.5 (-110) on FanDuel

 

 

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