Texas vs. Tennessee odds: Win probability, final score prediction in NCAA Tournament
Texas and Tennessee both played well in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and are now set to face off with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. No. 2 seed Tennessee blasted Saint Peter’s 83-49 on Thursday, while No. 7 seed Texas won an ugly 56-44 game against No. 10 seed Colorado State.
The Tennessee vs. Texas matchup is intriguing for several reasons. One of those is the fact that Vols coach Rick Barnes used to coach at Texas, leading the Longhorns program from 1998-2015.
Barnes reached the Final Four once, the Elite Eight two other times and had his team in the Big Dance almost every year. He now has Tennessee regularly contending in the NCAA Tournament. Here’s what you need to know about the game:
Odds for Tennessee vs. Texas
Coming into the game, Tennessee is a 6.5-point favorite over the Longhorns, per FanDuel. The Vols are also currently listed at -280 for the money line. Betting Texas on the money line would pay out at +225.
As for the over-under, the point total for the game is currently set at 146.5 points. Both teams are coming off games where they played well on the defensive end of the court.
Final score predictions for Tennessee vs. Texas
BPI Predicted winner: Tennessee
BPI Predicted point differential: 8
BPI Win probability (for Tennessee): 77.9 percent
BPI Matchup Quality: 85.1 percent
ESPN’s BPI is a model designed to provide a statistical comparison between two teams and predict future success. It agrees with Vegas about what to expect from this game. Leading into the game, BPI is projecting a point differential of 8.0 points in Tennessee’s favor. It also gives the Vols an 85.1 percent chance to win the game over the Longhorns.
BPI also gives this game a matchup quality score of 85.1. Out of NCAA Tournament games on Saturday, the matchup quality score is the third best.
KenPom Predicted final score: Tennessee 75, Texas 70
KenPom Win probability (for Tennessee ): 68 percent
KenPom is another predictive system for college basketball. It’s designed to show how strong a team is at a given time, without taking factors like injuries into account. For this game between Tennessee and Texas, KenPom agrees with BPI and Vegas, projecting the Vols to win a fairly close game.
How to watch Texas vs. Tennessee
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS, Prime Video (streaming)
Location: Charlotte (N.C.)
Texas and Tennessee are set to tip off at 8:00 p.m. EST. The game will be played at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
For fans not attending the contest, the game can be watched on CBS. It’s also going to be available on Prime Video. Fans can stream any tournament game they want via Prime Video.