-(Germany).jpg "Texas-AM-vs.-West-Virginia-(ESPN)-(Germany)")
Some lucky military members will receive a special treat on Veteran’s Day. In college basketball’s continuing effort to grow the game by playing in new and interesting places, the Texas A&M Aggies and the West Virginia Mountaineers will play at a United States military base in Germany on Friday night. The game will take place at midnight local time and plenty of servicemen and servicewomen will jump at the chance to start their holiday with this game. This will be the first college basketball game this season.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, November 10, 2017, at 6 p.m. ET at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Friday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Both of these teams are ranked in the AP poll, but No. 11 West Virginia is more highly regarded and will be favored over No. 25 Texas A&M.
Keep in mind that jet lag is going to be a major factor in this game. Both teams are leaving campus on Tuesday and will not arrive at Ramstein AFB until Wednesday. That won’t give either team much time to acclimatize and may lead to some tired legs.
Key Losses
The Aggies will not have two of their key players for this game because of suspensions handed out by head coach Billy Kennedy.
Last week, forward Robert Williams was suspended for Texas A&M’s first two games of the season because of an unspecified violation of school policy. Williams was one of four Aggies returning starters that averaged double digits in points last season and was expected to be the star of the team this year. The sophomore was named the Co-SEC Preseason Player of the Year after a solid freshman campaign in which he averaged 11.9 PPG and 8.2 RPG.
Not having Williams against a Bob Huggins team is huge. West Virginia is all about pressing and grabbing boards with a rotating slew of big men and the Mountaineers will be able to have greater success in their gameplan without Williams there to slow them down.
Additionally, the Aggies will not have freshman guard JJ Caldwell available for this game as he was suspended for the first four games of the year. Caldwell is expected to play a big role with this veteran squad and not having him is going to be big both in this game and in the future.
To make matters worse, two of the Aggies other starters were suspended for their final exhibition game against Tarleton State. Although Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg are both going to play in this game, neither one got crucial minutes in the team’s final tuneup.
Player to Watch
There’s no denying who West Virginia’s leader is. Jevon Carter is the team’s superstar, captain, and all-around best player. He has made the Big 12’s All-Defensive team all three years he has been in Morgantown and was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last season.
Carter struggled on the offensive end as an underclassmen, but came into his own last year. West Virginia didn’t have a lot of good options on the offensive end of the floor, so he took a step forward and led the team in scoring and shot 43.9 percent from the field. It was the first time in his career he hit better than 40 percent of his shots from the floor.
He also became the team’s main option when it needed a three. Carter hit 38.9 percent of his threes last season and caught fire from range in the NCAA Tournament. He knocked down 10 of his 18 three-point attempts in March Madness and almost led the Mountaineers to an upset of top-seeded Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
If this spread comes out in the single digits, jump all over the Mountaineers. Their press defense will force a ton of turnovers out of an Aggies team that doesn’t have a good option at point guard.
College Basketball Odds: West Virginia 76, Texas A&M 59
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