The Tennessee Volunteers are taking on the Florida Gators at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center today in what will be a big-time early-season showdown between two top-10 teams in the SEC. Let’s take a look at the top college basketball betting picks, odds, betting trends and Haslametrics, then give our Tennessee vs Florida prediction for the game tonight.
Tennessee vs Florida Prediction | College Basketball Game Tonight
No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers (14-0, 1-0 SEC) vs. No. 8 Florida Gators (13-1, 0-1 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: Stephen C. O’Connell Center — Gainesville, FL
Coverage: ESPN2
Tennessee vs Florida College Basketball Betting Picks and Odds
All college basketball betting odds for Tennessee vs Florida can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: TENN: (+120) | FLA: (-142)
Point Spread: TENN: +2.5 (-110) | FLA: -2.5 (-110)
Total: 149.5 — Over: (-112) | Under: (-108)
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Haslametrics Rankings
Haslametrics Rankings are from Haslametrics.com
| Team | Rank | Pace | Offensive Eff | Defensive Eff | Momentum |
| Tennessee | 4 | 65.14 (302nd) | 121.45 (20th) | 86.33 (3rd) | -2.09 (302nd) |
| Florida | 6 | 69.89 (59th) | 124.26 (10th) | 92.77 (17th) | 3.95 (19th) |
According to Haslametrics’ All-Play Estimates and automated game preview, the Florida Gators are projected to outlast the Tennessee Volunteers, 72-71.
Tennessee vs Florida College Basketball Betting Trends
- Tennessee is 3-2 against the spread (ATS) in their last five games.
- The UNDER is 4-1 in Tennessee’s last five games.
- Florida is 4-1 ATS over their last five games.
- The UNDER is 6-3 for Florida in their last nine home games.
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Tennessee Preview | College Basketball Betting Picks
Outside of a close call on the road to a very good Illinois team, the Tennessee Volunteers have ran through everyone that has been put in front of them. Most recently, Tennessee made mincemeat of then-23 Arkansas, 76-52. This Volunteers team has plenty of scorers and playmakers, but there is no doubt that their offense revolves around Chaz Lanier.
After three unremarkable seasons at North Florida, Lanier upped his game last year, improving his average points by a whopping 15 points. This year at Tennessee, he has picked up where he left off, averaging over 20 points while shooting over 46% from deep.
Tennessee has played just one game against actual competition when Lanier wasn’t scoring at will. As you can imagine, that was in their narrow win over Illinois where Lanier shot under 30% from the field. While the Volunteers were able to escape that game without any damage, a similar performance against the Gators will put them in danger of their first loss of the season. If Tennessee wants to win, the gameplan is as simple as Lanier having a good game.
Florida Preview | College Basketball Betting Picks
Florida is coming off of a wild loss to Kentucky in Lexington. The Wildcats shot over 57% from the field and 48% from behind the arc. Even with that hot shooting, the Gators lost by just six points, putting up 100 on their own as well.
The Gators are led by the three-headed monster that is Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard. The trio averages over 48 points and has been a major reason Florida has been cruising out of the gates.
The achilles heel for this Florida team has been their free throw shooting. The Gators make barely over 72% of their free throws and were just 22/35 (62.8%) from the line against Kentucky. This game, like all others in the SEC, is going to be physical so if Florida can knock down their shots at the charity stripe, they have as good of a chance as any to knock off the top team in the nation.
Tennessee vs Florida Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
This game should be incredibly close. While Tennessee has yet to lose a game, they haven’t played a team at Florida’s caliber yet. As for Florida, they are coming off of a draining loss to a very good Kentucky team. Expect this game to be a little sloppy to start before picking up some speed halfway through the first half.
Both teams play with different tempos, so the game inside of the game is going to be which team can force their style of play. While a road test in Gainesville would typically speed teams up, Tennessee looked poised in their road win over Illinois and has a very mature team that likely won’t get lost in the environment.
While Florida’s free throw woes are apparent, Tennessee is not much better at just over 75% themselves. This game will go down to the wire and although Tennessee has played better on the road, they are one off game from Lanier away from losing this game. Florida has much more consistent scoring which makes them a formidable force no matter who has the hot or cold hand on any given night. Florida should be able to pull this game out by more than a possession.
Our college basketball betting Tennessee vs Florida prediction tonight will be FLORIDA -2.5 at BetUS.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives Tennessee a 59% chance to win.
Top-25 College Basketball Games Today
Here are the ranked top-25 college basketball games today!
- Georgetown vs (7) Marquette
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- (6) Kentucky vs Georgia
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- (2) Auburn vs Texas
- (14) Mississippi State vs Vanderbilt
- (24) Michigan vs (22) UCLA
- (25) Utah State vs San Jose State
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