Florida at Tennessee: NCAA Basketball Odds & Picks
Written January 31, 2009 by Jay Horne
The previously 24th ranked Florida Gators will travel to Knoxville, T.N in a SEC rivalry action with the Tennessee Volunteers. The Volunteers have owned this SEC East rivalry winning the last 7 of 9 meetings with the Gators including the previous 3 straight games. However, Florida will likely be favored to win this game as they have been playing very well over the past few weeks. Tennessee is a 4 point favorite at home against Florida.
The Gators have won 12 of the last 13 games with the only loss coming from South Carolina in that exciting game that the Gamecocks recovered a missed free throw and completed a fast break to lay it in at the buzzer. If not for that miraculous play, Florida would likely be ranked in the top 20 or even higher. Tennessee on the other hand has completely fell apart since reaching the number 8 ranking in America after a 6-1 start. Tennessee struggles have continued and they will also be trying to avoid dropping three straight games when they host the Gators on Saturday night.
Tennessee has been really struggling from the floor in the past few weeks and it has resulted in them losing the last 5 of 8 games. The Volunteers were among the best in the SEC at scoring and field goal percentage prior to the disappointing stretch of games. However since that time, Tennessee has only shot 37% from the floor in their 5 losses compared to shooting nearly 48% earlier this season. Tennessee still ranks in the top 10 throughout the country in terms of scoring offense posting a strong 80 points per game, but they give up nearly more points than anyone at 74 points per game that ranks a bottom-dwelling 314th in the country.
The Volunteers must find a way to keep teams from racking up so many points by playing better defense. Veteran big men Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith are amazingly to the only two Tennessee players averaging over 10 points per game this season with Smith leading the team at 17 points per contest. The Volunteers will need some more help as they try and tackle another one of the best scoring teams in the nation on Saturday.
The Gators should be getting a bit more respect than they have considering they have really been playing strong basketball. Florida and Kentucky are a top the SEC standings at a 5-1 mark in the conference. However, Florida holds the best record out of any team in the Conference with an overall mark of 18-3. Not to mention all 3 of the Gators defeats this season were very close games that could have gone either way with 2 of the losses by 2 points or less. Florida will likely get another tough challenge this weekend considering they will probably get the Volunteers best shot to avoid losing 3 straight games in Knoxville. Florida has been shooting the ball very well knocking down 49.5% of their shots this season from the floor which equals the 7th best in the nation.
The strong shooting has lead to a Gator team that is posting 80 points per game as well also one of the best in the country. Leading the Florida attack is sophomore Nick Calathes who is averaging a strong 18 points, 6 assist, and 5 boards per game. Calathes posted 20 points in the Gators 83-57 blowout over Georgia on Wednesday night. Despite the Gators stellar play, all of their losses have come away from Gainesville this season and they will try to avoid another road loss when they take on the Volunteers at 9:00est on Saturday night.
Saturday’s college basketball betting features some great games, including this one. Be sure to check our comparative NCAA basketball spreads to be sure you are getting the best line on every game you bet. You can also buy top-rated college basketball picks from any one of our expert handicappers.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- NCAA Tournament Predictions: Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee
- Florida Gators 2009 NCAA Tournament Bubble
- Tennessee at Florida Football Picks
- SEC Men’s College Basketball Tournament Odds & Picks
- Tennessee at Florida Football Picks
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