The Vanderbilt Commodores (20-13) square off with the No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies (24-8) Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals. Tip-off from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville is at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Vanderbilt faces another tall task against the 2-seeded Aggies just one day after beating No. 24 Kentucky 80-73 as a 9-point underdog Friday. It is likely only a conference championship that will get the Commodores into the Big Dance, even with their win over Kentucky. Texas A&M is comfortably into March, but would still hate to be the next victim in the Vanderbilt cog.
The Aggies topped Arkansas 67-61 Friday and will look to again use a slow pace to draw Vanderbilt into a low-possession game, but Vandy will be okay with that and this should be a close game down to the wire.
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Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:16 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Vanderbilt +200 (bet $100 to win $200) | Texas A&M -250 (bet $250 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Vanderbilt +5.5 (-105) | Texas A&M -5.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 140.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M picks and predictions
Prediction
Texas A&M 68, Vanderbilt 65
Moneyline
PASS.
Anything can happen — as we saw with Vanderbilt (+200) beating Kentucky Friday — but this does not mean the value is there with them again Saturday. It may be fine to make a little nibble on the underdog, but I would not go very heavy on it.
Texas A&M (-250) will probably emerge victorious in a close game but you can’t risk 2 1/2 times your potential return. It’s best to just avoid the moneyline here altogether.
Against the spread
LEAN VANDERBILT +5.5 (-105).
The sentiment might be that the Commodores used all their luck Friday against Kentucky, but there might just be a bit left for the Aggies.
Although technically a neutral site game, this game will be played in Vanderbilt’s home city of Nashville and the crowd should be pro-Commodores. This small advantage could help propel Vanderbilt to cover 5.5 points and that should be well within reach in what is likely to be a lower-scoring game.
Vanderbilt is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games and with this number being 2 or 3 points too high, this game should make it 6-0 ATS.
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Over/Under
BET UNDER 140.5 (-115)
Texas A&M has gone Under in 6 of its last 8 games overall and has also gone Under in 5 of its last 6 Saturday games.
With both teams attempting to slow the pace, the only way this game gets to the Over is by getting to overtime. As long as this game remains in regulation, the UNDER 140.5 (-110) is the correct side to wager on.
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