March Madness: Alabama is a Tiny Favorite Over Texas Tech… For Now
Nate Oats crew needed to overcome the loss of guard Aden Holloway and sloppy early play from the Tide — in addition to ridiculous officiating from the referees — within the first spherical of the NCAAM Tournament to prime 13-seed Hofstra on Friday afternoon. Despite the problems for Alabama, the 4th seeded Crimson Tide led your entire sport and eventually took cost with slightly below 5 minutes to play once they outscored the Pride 19-5 down the stretch to show a tight sport into a 20 level win. Up subsequent for Alabama is a harder foe in fifth seeded Texas Tech and Bama can’t afford to attend till the final minutes to show up the warmth.
According to the FanDuel sportsbookthe Tide opens up as a -1.5 level favourite over the Red Raiders — a razor-thin margin that might waver between now and Sunday’s sport at 8:45pm CT. The over/below is set at 164.5 as of publish.
Texas Tech had a comparable opening sport within the Big Dance as they led the 12-seed Akron by 5 on the half and by a comparable margin with 6:25 remaining earlier than outscoring the Zips 22-7 down the stretch to win by 20.
Tech is additionally lacking a key participant. However in contrast to Holloway, their loss is a consensus second-team All-American in ahead JT Toppin who suffered a season-ending harm after tearing his ACL in his proper knee in a February sport at Arizona State. At the time of his harm, Toppin led his crew with 21.8 factors, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per sport.
Texas Tech would lose that sport to the Sun Devils, who didn’t make the post-season. They would rebound for a blowout win over a unhealthy Kansas State and also-ran Cincinnati, adopted by a big upset of Iowa State — now a 2-seed — on the highway. But the nice occasions didn’t final because the Red Raiders misplaced their last three video games previous to the NCAA Tournament. Those opponents — TCU, BYU, and Iowa State — are all NCAA Tournament contributors.
In the three sport win streak, the oddsmakers seemingly had their doubts about Texas Tech with out their star participant. In the three sport setback that adopted, the other was seemingly true. The unfold and over/below in opposition to Akron have been shockingly low (until you’re impressed by a crew that dominated the MAC, a convention that put solely two groups within the Big Dance).
Donovan Atwell and Christian Anderson have stepped up their video games in Toppin’s absence, and LeJuan Watts has emerged as a key contributor. But is it sufficient? Which Texas Tech crew will we see on Sunday?
After a show-stopping double extra time win over Arkansas, Alabama defeated poor LSU and MSU groups after which acquired revenge over Tennessee. Then got here a disappointing loss to UGA and a hammering of Auburn. The Tide made an early exit from the SEC Tournament earlier than getting into the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide loses some scoring contributions from Holloway, however produce other guards able to stepping up. But will they?
The Tide is nonetheless the nation’s prime scoring crew at 91.7 factors per sport. The Red Raiders common 80.7 which is seventieth highest. Tech permits 72.6 ppg and Bama is at 70.1.
The actual determinant appears to be if the Tide may be motivated to play laborious and play protection. Sometimes, you by no means know what you will get out of this squad. The hope is that Oats has saved up a good motivation speech for the crimson and white.
The odds might fluctuate between now and Sunday’s typoff. Check in with FanDuel for updates.
This second spherical sport is set for 8:45pm/9:45pm on Sunday, March 22, and will likely be broadcast on TBS.
