IHTIT: Tennessee Vols vs. Texas A&M Aggies Basketball Preview (2/24/24)

It's Hoops Time in Tennessee: After surviving a closer-than-expected game against Missouri on Tuesday, winning by five after trailing by two at halftime, Tennessee (20-6, 10-3 SEC, 10-6 vs. Quad 1&2) returns home looking for revenge against Texas A&M (15-11, 6-7 SEC, 6-7 vs. Quad 1&2). The Aggies have crashed and burned after upsetting the Vols earlier this month, losing three straight. That includes losses to two of the SEC's weakest teams in Arkansas and Vanderbilt, and a blowout loss to Alabama. 

Despite that 69-85 loss to the Aggies on Feb. 10, Tennessee still owns an 11-8 lead in the all-time series, although TAMU has won the last two meetings. 

Preview Graphic: See the basketball glossary for more information. Click for larger version. 

Where's weirdo: Since Buzz Williams can't stay in the coaches' box to call timeouts, I've hidden 10 Buzzes in this game's preview graphic. Can you find them all? (One is a little tricky.)

I wrote a significant number of words about what happened in the first meeting between these teams, and how UT avoided the upset against Mizzou. Check that out if you haven't already. 

Tennessee should win this game--but they should have won the first game against the Aggies too. If A&M gets hot again from three it could be another long night. It's imperative that UT does not allow easy threes, especially early like they did in the first game. 

Prediction: Tennessee 81, Texas A&M 68

Mediocre(?) Betting Advice: I was told to rename this section because the picks haven't been bad--but I'm still not taking the blame if you listen to me and lose. KenPom has the Vols as 11-point favorite. I think the home crowd--between the Checker Out and revenge factor--will juice that number up a bit. UT is 6-4 ATS in their last 10 and TAMU is 3-7. I like the Vols -10 and over 144.5

Prediction Record YTD: 9-3 SU, 7-5 ATS, 6-4-1 O/U