Alabama vs Tennessee Basketball Prediction & Picks: Will the Vols topple the top-ranked Tide in Knoxville?

Tonight, the SEC’s two ranked men’s basketball teams will face off in Knoxville, as #1 Alabama pays a visit to #10 Tennessee (7:00 pm ET, ESPN2).

The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 SEC) ascended to the top of the national rankings this week for the first time in 20 years, but their hopes to remain there for more than a week will get an immediate challenge from the Volunteers (19-6, 8-4 SEC), who will be looking to rebound from back-to-back losses at the buzzer at Vanderbilt and at home against Missouri.

Will the Vols be able to inject some life into their fading SEC regular season title hopes? Read on for our Alabama vs Tennessee prediction and picks, as well as our analysis for tonight’s matchup at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Alabama vs Tennessee Odds

Odds are via BetOnline as of Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at 2:15 pm ET. This article may also include odds from our other recommended legal sports betting sites.

Spread

• Alabama +2.5 (+100)
• Tennessee -2.5 (-122)

Over/Under

• Over 147.5 (-110)
• Under 147.5 (-110)

Moneyline

• Alabama +132
• Tennessee -160

Will the Run at Perfection End for Alabama?

With six more wins, Alabama will become the first team since Kentucky in 2015 to have an unblemished run through SEC regular season play.

This is the toughest test left on their schedule, even after Tennessee lost consecutive games to inferior opposition in heartbreaking fashion.

Both losses came about in part because a late missed free throw by Santiago Vescovi helped keep the door open.

But over the course of a 40-minute game, there are a lot of things that lead to a potential win or loss. And the Vols, who rank #1 in the country in defending the three, were beaten by the three both at the end and throughout the game in the loss at Vandy and in the loss to Mizzou.

Prior to those last two games, no one this season had hit more than eight threes in a game against Tennessee, no one had made 40% or better against them, and SEC opponents were shooting 23.8% (59 of 247) from outside against the Vols.

But the Commodores, who shoot at a 32.8% clip for the season, made 10 threes in 25 attempts (40%) in their 66-65 win, while Missouri was 14 of 26 (53.8%) in Saturday’s 86-85 win,

That spells potential trouble against Alabama, who is first in the SEC and seventh in the country in made threes per game (10.4). In SEC play, the Crimson Tide are averaging 11.4 made threes per game and have hit double-digit treys six times, with a high of 20 in their 106-66 win over LSU last month.

Alabama vs Tennessee Prediction and Picks

Crimson Tide vs Volunteers Prediction: Tennessee to win

Crismon Tide vs Volunteers Picks: Tennessee -2.5 (Best Value: BetOnline)

I don’t think that Tennessee’s losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri mean the sky is falling for the Vols, but they couldn’t have come at a worse time with the Tide rolling into Knoxville.

That said, going undefeated in any capacity is extremely difficult, and if Alabama is going to slip up at any point in their conference slate, this is where it will happen.

I don’t love Tennessee as a potential Final Four or national championship team, but I do think they will play with a point to prove tonight and take down the Tide in a close one.