Back The Struggling Vols To Get Right Against Arkansas

Tennessee vs. Arkansas, 9:00 ET

College Rankings always make me laugh. I understand more goes into it than records, but there isn't an easy way to understand exactly what goes into the process or evaluation. There is always a conversation or controversy around teams not making it to the big dance, but most of the time people don't care about the regular season team rankings. We only have one ranked team in this game as we have number eight Tennessee taking on Arkansas in a SEC battle that takes place in Arkansas. 

Tennessee comes into this game as the eighth-ranked team in the country. Quite frankly, I think it is a bit higher than they deserve, but I suppose it really doesn't matter. The number is fairly arbitrary at the moment. Sure, it helps with conference tournament placement and even seeding for the NCAA Tournament, but it doesn't do much for you otherwise. The Volunteers just suffered their sixth loss of the season and they are just 2-2 over their past four contests. They dropped a game by 16 to Texas A&M on the road in their most recent game, but they were able to beat Kentucky on the road a few games ago. South Carolina beat Tennessee at home by four points recently as well, which accounted for the other loss in their past four games. Tennessee is led by Dalton Knecht, an efficient guard that shoots almost 50% from the field and 40% from deep. He also is surprisingly good at rebounding and often leads the team in rebounding. I'm not sure it is intentional or they are looking to get him the rebound so he can lead the team in transition. Obviously, the biggest goal for Arkansas in this one has to be stopping Knecht. He has led the Volunteers in scoring in eight of the past ten games and put up 20+ in nine of the past ten games. If he gets on a roll in this game, Tennessee will open up their offense. 

The NCAA logo (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Arkansas is not a great team. They were fine until the SEC play started, but since that stretch, they are just 3-7 over their last ten games. They've lost on the road and at home in this stretch. They've also beaten a couple decent teams, but also lost to some not so great ones. All of this is to say they are a bit unpredictable. In their losses, only one of them has been by fewer than 10 points. Their wins have all been by seven or fewer points. It does help that this will be their second straight game at home. Players should be familiar with the sight lines and should be comfortable in their routine. I'm not sure that matters all that much if their talent can't match up with that of Tennessee, but it could help make the game at least closer during the first half. Arkansas basically relies on their two guards to score all of their points. They have a few others that contribute, but the bulk of the scoring comes from Tramon Mark and Khalif Battle. Tennessee has the guards that can match up well with those two players. 

I think Tennessee will be the winning team in this game. In the games that Arkansas loses they are typically blown out. I don't really want to lay points with a college team on the road, but this could be a game that Tennessee uses to get right. I will take them -8.5 in the game. I think it is possible that the Volunteers hold the team under 70 points as well so maybe that's a good look, but I'll take Tennessee on the spread as my only play. 

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