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What Happened Last Night
- Texas A&M 89, Buffalo 73: This was a closer game than the final score makes it look; Texas A&M led 60-58 with seven minutes to go. But a late surge by the Aggies made it a 16-point final margin. Duane Wilson led the way with 23 points and 11 assists, and freshman Savion Flagg had a career-high 21 points. Tyler Davis had 16 points and 11 rebounds; Tonny Trocha-Morelos had 7 blocks. The Aggies were without Admon Gilder (injured), D.J. Hogg (suspension), T.J. Starks (suspension), and J.J. Caldwell (suspension.)
Tonight’s Schedule
| Time (ET) | Game | TV/Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 PM | Temple at Georgia | SEC Network/WatchESPN |
| 7:00 PM | Bradley at Ole Miss | SEC Network+/WatchESPN< |
| 7:00 PM | Incarnate Word at Florida | SEC Network/WatchESPN< |
| 7:00 PM | Alcorn State at Vanderbilt | SEC Network+/WatchESPN< |
| 8:00 PM | North Florida at LSU | SEC Network+/WatchESPN< |
| 9:00 PM | Texas vs. Alabama | ESPN2/WatchESPN< |
The pre-conference portion of the schedule is winding down. For five of the six teams playing today, along with Texas A&M (which played last night), today will mark the final game before SEC play begins (The exception is LSU, who isn’t participating in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and will complete its nonconference schedule next Thursday).
The most interesting games today are the Georgia Bulldogs hosting the Temple Owls — in a 1 PM ET tipoff! Day basketball! — and the Alabama Crimson Tide playing the Texas Longhorns in what’s technically a neutral-site game in Birmingham. Georgia has put itself at least on the fringes of the NCAA Tournament conversation with an 8-2 start and can solidify that by beating Temple, who’s 7-3 and ranked #56 in KenPom. Alabama hasn’t been all that impressive over the last month or so, but can get things back on track with a win over the 8-3 Longhorns.
Meanwhile, the Ole Miss Rebels have a sneaky tough matchup with the Bradley Braves, currently 10-2 and ranked #100 in KenPom after going 18-47 in Brian Wardle’s first two years. The remaining games are little more than tuneups. The LSU Tigers host the North Florida Osprey, who are 5-9 and lost to Missouri by 34 points on Saturday; their 92% win probability (per KenPom) is the lowest of those three. The Vanderbilt Commodores and Florida Gators are both given a 98% win probability against, respectively, the 4-8 Alcorn State Braves (0-8 against Division I competition) and the 5-4 Incarnate Word Cardinals.
Bad Gambling Advice
Last night: 0-1 ATS; Season to Date: 44-43-2 ATS
(No line on Incarnate Word-Florida, Alcorn State-Vanderbilt, and North Florida-LSU.)
- Temple at Georgia (-3): Look for Georgia to carry forward its momentum from a big win over Georgia Tech the other night and take care of the Owls.
- Bradley (+9.5) at Ole Miss: This is a classic bad line (it started at Ole Miss -6 and has moved.) Given how Ole Miss is playing right now, there is no planet on which they should be nearly a double-digit favorite against a pretty good Bradley team. I would not be surprised if Bradley wins outright, so I’ll gladly take the points here.
- Texas (+2.5) vs. Alabama: I’m still not completely sold on Alabama, which is talented but hasn’t played a good game in about a month. Then again, the same could be said for Texas. These two teams are pretty evenly matched, so the value is on the side that’s getting points.