Welcome to the Wednesday college basketball slate, sports betting family. Now that college football has wrapped and we're all waiting on the Super Bowl, you can expect us to cover the college hardwood a little bit more often around these parts.
I can't wait for this SEC showdown between the Volunteers and the Bulldogs. This is a 7 PM EST game on the SEC Network, but get those wagers in early, my friends. Check out my best bet for Tennessee vs Georgia below. Good luck and enjoy the game.
Online sportsbooks opened this line at Georgia -1 on the lookahead line on Tuesday afternoon. A little bit of money has come in on the Vols, so much so that the line is now sitting at Tennessee -1 at the time of this writing.
As for the game total, there's been some Under money in the market so far. The line opened at 161, and a few spots are now offering 158. As always, be sure to shop around for the best price before pulling the trigger on any bet.
Tennessee has a dynamic offense, as it averages 82.2 points per game and shoot 48% from the field. The Vols are led by Jakobi Gillespie in points (18.8) and assists (5.5). Gillespie gets a lot of help from forward Nate Ament, who averages 16.2 points per contest.
Defense has been a strong point for Tennessee so far, as they rank 19th in opponent effective field goal percentage and 22nd in defending three-pointers. Big man Felix Okpara leads the squad in blocks with 1.6 per game. The Vols will need Okpara to have a good night defending some of the Bulldogs' big interior players.
Georgia is a solid 16-4 overall this season and 4-3 in SEC play. They failed a major test on the road against Texas over the weekend, but leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.7) will look to rally the troops back at home on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs have three guys who score 11.7 points per game or more, so depth is not a problem. The Bulldogs' defense doesn't look so hot from a points allowed perspective, as they rank just 216th in that department.
However, a lot of that is due to their fast-paced offense. Georgia ranks 19th in opponent shooting efficiency, which just goes to show they're no slouch on that side of the court.
This is a classic bounce-back spot for the Georgia Bulldogs, as they're finally back home for the first time in 8 days. They're coming off a 20-point road whipping against Texas last Saturday, so focus will not be a problem after that level of embarrassment. In short, it's a good buy low spot on UGA.
On the flip side, this is a rough spot for Tennessee. They're coming off a huge upset win over archrival Alabama on the road. That was a gigantic win for the Vols, and I'm willing to bet (pun intended) that they did a fair amount of partying after taking down Nate Oats's squad.
Georgia has the edge in two metrics that I think will be the difference in this one: free throws and turnovers! The Dawgs rank 67th in free-throw shooting, while the Vols rank just 281st. That's a huge edge in close games.
UGA causes 15.2 turnovers per game (10th) while UT gives up 13.1 turnovers per contest (284th). Look for the Dawgs to steal enough extra possessions at home to come away with the W. Good luck, sports betting amigos!