Tennessee vs. Texas Tech Prediction and Odds: Back the Red Raiders

Tennessee plays host to Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden in a marquee non-conference showdown.

The Vols come off an impressive road victory over Colorado over the weekend while Texas Tech will try and bounce back after a tough loss at Providence.

Here are the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook.

Tennessee vs. Texas Tech Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

• Tennessee: -4 (-110)
• Texas Tech: +4 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Tennessee: +150
• Texas Tech: -180

Total: 137.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

Tennessee vs. Texas Tech Prediction and Pick

There has been interesting steam on this one with Tennessee moving out to a 4-point favorite, but I'm going against it and backing Texas Tech.

First, this is a miserable travel spot for the Vols, who are coming from the altitude of Boulder, Colorado, to go across the country to play on a neutral floor with two days in between. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders have been off since last Wednesday.

This is a battle of two top 20 team per KenPom and I'm expecting the Red Raiders defense to give the Tennessee offense fits. While Kennedy Chandler has been a revelation for the Vols offense at point guard, this is a turnover driven Tech defense that is top five in turning their opponents over.

The Red Raiders are cool letting teams shoot from three based on their no-middle defense, which cuts off drives to the rim, allowing the 28th highest three-point rate to opponents. However, I don't think Tennessee is going to make them pay with potentially tired legs from the travel.

On the other side, Texas Tech's offense is humming mainly because they are getting so many opportunities. The team is rebounding nearly half of their misses this season, led by Marcus Santos-Silva, who is No. 2 in the country in offensive rebounding rate. Tennessee is not the strongest defensive rebounding team, right in the middle of the pack nationally, so I'm counting on the Red Raiders to hang around in this one.

I see this game closer to a pick and will happily take Texas Tech +4, and play it down to +3.

PICK: Texas Tech +4, play to +3