College basketball betting favors ninth-ranked Tennessee on Friday as they play Middle Tennessee on a neutral court in Nashville as part of the Sun Belt Classic. The Vols come into this NCAA basketball betting game at 6-1 while the Blue Raiders are 3-4. College basketball betting has seen Tennessee get off to a strong start this season but the schedule has been pretty easy. That will change after Friday night’s college basketball betting game against Middle Tennessee State. Tennessee hasn’t played as well as they can but head coach Bruce Pearl said the travel has been part of the problem. “I did feel like prior to going to the Virgin Islands we had great practices, very intense practices, knowing what was ahead,” Pearl said.Tennessee is just 2-2-1 against the college basketball betting line this season. Part of the reason they have struggled covering the NCAA basketball betting line is they are too inconsistent.
“We continue to struggle finishing around the rim,” Pearl said, “My job is to try to help us get high-percentage looks, and once we get the ball in there, we have to finish around the basket. If we could do that better, our shooting percentage would be up a bit and we’d get to the foul line more.” Tennessee has been winning because they are in the Top 10 in the country in three-point shooting. Scotty Hopson is fourth in the country in three-point shooting as college basketball betting stats show. For Tennessee to consistently win in college basketball betting they need better inside play and they also need senior Tyler Smith to shoot better from the outside. “Tyler will do what it takes to beat the best on our schedule, and if that’s having one of the better assist/turnover ratios in the country, which he does now, that’s what it will be,” Pearl said. “If it means scoring inside, that’s what he’ll do, or if it means scoring outside that’s what he’ll do.”
The Volunteers are 1-3-1 vs. the college basketball betting number in their last 5 neutral site games and 2-6-1 vs. the college basketball betting odds in their last 9 non-conference NCAA basketball betting games. The Blue Raiders are 5-1 vs. the college basketball betting odds in their last 6 non-conference games and 5-12 in NCAA basketball betting in their last 17 games overall.
Ten of the last thirteen Tennessee games have gone under the college basketball betting total. The last five Middle Tennessee State games vs. SEC teams have gone under in college basketball betting.