The Tennessee Volunteers are off to a hot start in 2020-21 with a 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS record at home. The Volunteers will try to extend their winning streak this Saturday when they host the Alabama Crimson Tide.
- Date/Time: January 2, 6:00 p.m. ET
- Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena
- TV Coverage: ESPN 2
- Sportsbook Odds: Volunteers -9.5 | O/U 143.5 points (Line History)
- Alabama vs Tennessee (Matchup Report)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The line on this game has remained steady with Tennessee going off as 9.5-point favorites at home. The total has moved slightly from its opener at 143.5 points up to 144 points. The UNDER is 2-5 in Tennessee’s seven games played this season.
Alabama News & Notes
The Crimson Tide wrapped up the month of December with back-to-back blowout wins, covering the spread as 14-point favorites in an 85-69 win over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers and as 2.5-point favorites in an 82-64 win over the Ole Miss Rebels. Alabama moved to 6-3 SU and 5-4 ATS on the season with this 2-0 SU and ATS run and now carries some momentum into this test against Tennessee.
This will be Alabama’s first true road game of the season. In four games away from home played at neutral locations this year, the Crimson Tide are 2-2 SU and ATS. Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford are Alabama’s two leading scorers and the guard tandem has averaged 36.5 points per game over the team’s last two games. Both players will need to be at their best this Saturday to crack through Tennessee’s stingy defense.
Tennessee News & Notes
Through their first seven games of the 2020-21 season, the Volunteers have produced the best scoring defense in the nation allowing only 52.7 points per game. In their first test against a ranked team last Wednesday in Missouri, Tennessee passed with flying colors in a 73-53 win over the Tigers as 4-point favorites to improve to 7-0 SU and 6-1 ATS on the year.
The Volunteers have six players averaging over 20 minutes and eight points per game with only one player averaging more than 12 points per game in Victor Bailey Jr. with 12.6. Tennessee’s commitment to rotating players in and out of the lineup with an emphasis on balanced scoring and team defense has worked to perfection so far and has the Volunteers looking like a potential contender this March sitting at No. 7 in the AP Top 25 Poll and at No. 6 in the Coaches Poll.
Betting Pick: Tennessee -9.5
Tennessee has won its first seven games by an average margin of victory of 27 points per game. This one won’t likely be that lopsided, but the Volunteers are worth rolling with until they cool off.
- Alabama is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 road games.
- Tennessee is 12-6 ATS in its last 18 January games.
- The UNDER is 6-0 in Tennessee’s last 6 games vs. Alabama.
