Two of the most anticipated conference matchups land on Saturday, February 15th. Let’s start in Tucson, where Arizona will play Houston for the first time since the Cougars sent the Wildcats packing in the tournament in 2022. First and second in the conference, Houston’s defense against Arizona’s offense will be a storyline to follow all game.
In Tuscaloosa, the 1st and 2nd best teams in the entire country line up against each other in the basketball Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. Look for the home squad to outpace and outshoot Auburn in what could turn into the best game of the year thus far.
A battle of the two top squads in the Big 12 heads to Tucson and McKale Center, where the Cougars will meet the ‘Cats for the first time since March of 2022, when Kelvin Sampson’s team beat the Mathurin-led Wildcats by 12 points in San Antonio.
While Arizona will be a team to watch come this March, Houston’s elite 3-point shooting matched with one of the top defenses in the country might be too much for this up-and-down Zona squad. Tommy Lloyd is never quite sure what he will get from Caleb Love and after a rough outing against Kansas State, expect Sampson and company to shut the 5th-year-senior down at McKale.
In one of the most anticipated Big 12 matchups of the season, I’m taking the Cougars to cover by a hair.
Best Bet: Houston -1.5
#1 in the country, Auburn vs #2 in the country, Alabama. No, this isn’t college football. This is a mid-February matchup between two of the best teams in college basketball. Alabama has lost just one game in their last ten outings, with wins by 20 or more against Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. They average a staggering 90.5 PPG behind their elite duo of Grant Nelson and Mark Sears.
In comparison to Auburn, Bama will be able to get to the charity strike more often than not, and with their frontcourt consisting of two of the best bigs in the conference (Nelson and Omoruyi), I believe Nate Oats and his feisty Crimson Tide will be able to limit Johni Broome’s impact tomorrow night leading to a victory.
Best Bet: Alabama-1.5
The Vanderbilt Commodores had a moment inside the top 25 before squandering their positioning with a 30 point loss against Oklahoma on February 1st. Since then, they have won just one game against Texas, while losing two to Auburn and Florida respectively. Vandy is just 5-6 in conference play and will take on a Tennessee squad that is looking to avenge their most recent loss to Kentucky.
Tennessee is 2-1 in games after a loss and with Zakai Zeigler back in action and the team due to bounce back after their 3 for 18 night from the field on Tuesday, this is the play of the night. Vandy won this last matchup in Nashville by one point but before then, Tennessee won the last two games by a combined 48 points.
Best Bet: Tennessee -12.5