The No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1) and No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs (7-1) tussle in the Battle in Seattle Saturday. Tip-off in the home-away-from-home game for the Bulldogs is set for 8 p.m. ET at Climate Pledge Arena. Below, we look at the Alabama vs. Gonzaga odds and lines and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Alabama fell to Iona Nov. 25 but has rallied with back-to-back wins since. The Tide are coming off a hot-shooting Sunday win over Miami (Fla.) and heads into this game ranked 11th in the nation in scoring with 85.7 points per game. Saturday will mark UA’s first game against a top-50 type, but the Crimson Tide have played a tough mid-level slate so far.
The Bulldogs are coming off a win over Tarleton State, but it was a shaky victory that saw GU come up well sort of covering a 32-point spread. Iffy 3-point shooting and uncharacteristic turnovers haunted Gonzaga in that last game, but the possession-efficiency analytics like the Bulldogs as a top-10 team on both sides of the ball. However, the misfire against Tarleton State came on the heels of a Nov. 26 loss to Duke, so Gonzaga heads to Seattle with a few questions.
Alabama vs. Gonzaga odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:27 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Alabama +370 (bet $100 to win $370) | Gonzaga -520 (bet $520 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Alabama +9.5 (-107) | Gonzaga -9.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 163.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)
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Alabama vs. Gonzaga odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Gonzaga 88, Alabama 80
Money line
PASS and concentrate on the Over — the strongest play here — and perhaps on ‘Bama plus the points.
Against the spread
With the game being a non-home-floor affair and with Gonzaga appearing to be a bit off lately, the Tide are the lean here. The Bulldogs are 1-2 ATS against rabbit-paced teams.
Parts of the market have had the Alabama side getting double digits, so perhaps hold off for a better price, but ALABAMA +9.5 (-107) is in the right neighborhood.
Over/Under
The big-man duo of F Drew Timme and C Chet Holmgren has led Gonzaga to a superb 66.6% accuracy mark on 2-point attempts. Alabama can get out and run convert quick buckets in transition. Both teams play at a fast pace: both rank in the nation’s top-20 in seconds-per-possession.
This sets up as a game with neither side relying much on distance shooting, an old-fashioned back-and-forth with a spiraling score that could well be headed to the 170-175 range.
TAKE THE OVER 163.5 (-108).
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