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To bring publicity to the city of Birmingham, the Steel City of the South will host a bowl game and a basketball game this weekend. The Vulcan Classic will pit the Texas Longhorns against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday night. Alabama is the nominal home team and will have a lot of the support since Tuscaloosa is just 45 minutes away. Texas has not fared well in neutral court games this season, with a record of 1-2.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, December 22, 2017, at 9 p.m. ET at Legacy Arena at BJCC in Birgmingham, Alabama. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. 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
It seems like every time you think Texas is ready to turn the corner, the Longhorns lay an egg. Texas looked solid out in Portland, beating Butler and taking both Duke and Gonzaga to overtime. However, the Longhorns have not looked good on the offensive end since that point. They were able to beat VCU, but lost at home to Michigan and barely beat Tennessee State in an ugly 47-46 game on Monday. In all, Texas is 2-5 ATS on the year.
Speaking of teams that have disappointed, Alabama was expected to be a Top 25 team this year, but that just hasn’t come to fruition. The Crimson Tide nearly lost to Mercer last night, knocking off the Bears by just one point. They are 1-4-1 ATS over their last six games, and the over has gone 4-2 in that time.
Key Stats
Defense hasn’t been the problem for Texas this season. Once again, it’s been the offense that has failed to develop. For the third straight year, Texas just isn’t that good of a shooting team.
Nowhere is that more evident in the two places where a shooting team is best measured. The Longhorns are hitting just 27.9 percent of their threes and 61.4 percent of their free throw attempts this season. Both of those numbers are terrible and place Texas in the bottom half of the nation.
Only one person is hitting better than a third of their threes, Andrew Jones. Unfortunately, Jones fractured his wrist last week. He is expected to miss several games, and the offense has been nonexistent without him in the lineup.
Player to Watch
Freshman Collin Sexton is Alabama’s leading scorer and has been the team’s best player through the early part of the year. He is averaging 21.8 PPG so far, and the one game in which he didn’t score in the double digits was when Alabama had its worst offensive outing of the season.
It’s not hard to see that the recruiting services were dead right about Sexton. He was hailed as the best point guard in the country by many and has played up to that billing.
Although he isn’t distributing the ball as much as he should, the team is at its best with the ball in his hands.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Under is going to be a great bet in this game. Both of these teams struggle from the line, and while Texas hasn’t been scoring, the defense has been excellent. Texas ranks in the top 20 in the three major defensive categories and forces a lot of turnovers.
It’s harder to pick a side. Texas does have the advantage when it comes to rest, getting an extra day to prep and recover after its narrow win over Tennessee State. Meanwhile, Alabama will have the advantage of the crowd and doesn’t have to worry about traveling far.
If Jones was healthy, I’d take Texas. However, until the Longhorns prove they can play well without him, it’s hard to back this team.
College Basketball Odds: Alabama 67, Texas 60
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