A Look Toward The Total For Georgia Vs. Tennessee

Georgia vs. Tennessee, 8:00 ET

College hoops isn't always great during the week - there are stretches where there are just not very good matchups. Everyone needs to play a bunch of different teams, so sometimes that's just how it works out. This week is different. Yesterday there were a ton of great games and we were able to get two good wins. I'm looking forward to trying to do that again on the hardwood in both of the ranked matchups that take place tonight. The other ranked matchup is between Georgia and Tennessee, let's see how we should bet it. 

Georgia enters tonight game with a really nice 14-2 record for the season and a 2-1 conference record. They are also ranked as the 23rd best team in the country. They suffered their first conference loss just a few games ago as they dropped the game to Ole Miss with a 63-51 final. After that they responded well by beating Kentucky and Oklahoma in back-to-back games. It was a bit surprising to see them lose to Ole Miss as I would've expected them to fall to Kentucky, but these road games can be very difficult for teams. The other loss that Georgia had this season was to Marquette. That game came on a neutral court and saw the Golden Eagles handle them with relative ease. This is a very difficult stretch for this team too as this is the fourth straight game they will play a ranked opponent, and they will face five in six games, and six ranked opponents in eight games. The Bulldog team is fairly deep. They have four guys that are at 10 points per game or more, and another that is at 11.3, but he has only played six games. That player, De'Shayne Montgomery, started playing only a few games ago, and after three good games, he has cooled off against the ranked opponents, so we will see how he performs over the long haul. 

Jan 11, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; The Georgia Bulldogs bench including center Somto Cyril (6) react as Georgia defeats the Oklahoma Sooners at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

This game won't be easy for Georgia because they have Tennessee waiting for them. The Volunteers are ranked sixth in the nation with a very nice 15-1 record for the season and a 2-1 conference record. The problem is that the loss they had was very bad. I bet on them to win that game and they completely crapped the bed. They lost to the Gators, in Florida by 30 points. We might need to re-read that sentence because that's a ton of points to lose by to a conference opponent. They bounced back well with a win over Texas in the next game, but even that one was close, having them lose by just four points. The Volunteers shot terribly in the game, but their defense wasn't great either. They shot just 21.4% from the field and 13.8% from deep in the game. It was an absurdly poor shooting performance. There is still a lot to like about the team, with guard Chaz Lanier leading the way and scoring 19 points per game for the team. They also have a deep squad with three others averaging 10 or more points per game. There aren't too many deep threats for the team, but Lanier is the best shooter on the team. 

This seems like a bit high of a spread. I get it that the Bulldogs on the road is not a safe play, but I don't think Tennessee is playing great right now. I'm not going to touch the spread, but I do lean toward Georgia and the points. The total for the game is just 133.5 which seems to be a bit low to me. I'm going to back the over.