A key college battle sees the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs travelling to Tennessee Thursday to take on the Volunteers.

It's a game in the SEC Tournament, which will decide the conference title, not to mention deciding which teams make the Field of 68. Bridgestone Arena is the location for this game, which makes it a neutral-site matchup.

The Volunteers are 19-11 so far on the season, and 16-11-1 ATS vs. the number. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are 10-21 and 12-15 ATS. OVER/UNDER bettors have seen Tennessee go 14-13 and the Bulldogs go 14-12 on the totals.



View Mississippi State vs Tennessee Odds and Stats.

Power Rankings / Prediction:
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Volunteers rated this week at No. 59 and the Bulldogs sitting at No. 313. It may or may not play a role in Odds Shark score prediction modelling that produced a 69-57 result in favor of the Volunteers.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Tennessee's No. 197 nationally ranked offense (66.8 points per game) against a Bulldogs defense that sits as the No. 250 at 69.5 PPG. The Volunteers have been averaging 43.3% from the field, more than the Bulldogs have managed so far this season (40.3% on average).

Defensively, Mississippi State features the nation's No. 298-rated defense on the road, allowing 74.9 points per game. Tennessee, meanwhile, comes in at No. 200 nationally in scoring at home.

In their last action, Mississippi State was a 70-59 Sportsbook on the road against South Carolina. They covered the 5.5-point spread as underdogs. The Bulldogs grabbed a 70-59 win over the Gamecocks on Wednesday, behind a 21-point effort from Fred Thomas at Bridgestone Arena.

Last time out for Tennessee, they were a 64-62 Sportsbook as they battled Missouri at home. They covered in the match as a 1.5-point underdog. The Volunteers got 15 points from Jordan McRae as Tennessee ran past Missouri 64-62 on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.