Alabama basketball is in Knoxville to face off with Tennessee in a game with major implications. If the Crimson Tide wants to stay alive in the SEC regular season title race, it needs to pull off a win in a difficult environment.
The Tide and the Vols are also competing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and only one of the two is likely to get it. Auburn, Duke, and Houston seem likely to get three of the four slots. The fourth spot could ultimately go to the winner of this game in Knoxville, though Florida is going to have something to say about that, too.
Nate Oats and Alabama got swept by Tennessee last season, losing by 20 on the road and by seven in Tuscaloosa. Oats has only led the Crimson Tide to one win at Thompson-Boiling Arena during his tenure. In January of 2021, Alabama knocked off Tennessee on the road led by 17 points from John Petty, who connected on 4/4 from downtown.
This Crimson Tide team has had a lot of success on the road, though their last road trip ended with an abhorrent defensive performance in a loss at Missouri. But Alabama has road wins on its resume over North Carolina, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Texas. Beating the Vols on the road is likely to take its best effort yet, however.
Tennessee's physical style of defense has given Oats coached teams a lot of problems. How they handle that will likely determine how much success they are able to have on the road.
Alabama basketball a slight road underdog at Tennessee
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel
Spread: Tennessee -3.5
Over/Under: 158.5
How to Watch:
Tip Time: 3:00 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Streaming: Fubo TV
Prediction:
This will be a tremendous challenge for Alabama on Saturday afternoon. Tennessee has only lost once at home this season and Rick Barnes will have his team ready to play. Alabama will need Mark Sears to continue his hot streak. The graduate senior guard is averaging 28.7 points and over six assists per game over the last three contests.
The Crimson Tide has been inconsistent with its three-point shooting this year, but has been shooting it pretty well recently outside of the loss to Auburn at home. Alabama is shooting 38.0% in SEC play and they'll need to shoot the ball well to walk out of Knoxville with an upset win.
Tennessee will want to muddy this game up and make it ugly. The Vols prefer to play slow and deliberately. Alabama obviously wants to play fast and make it a track meet. Whichever team controls the tempo likely wins this game.
It's a coinflip to me, but I'll take the Tide in a close one.