Auburn vs. Alabama Betting Preview

The college basketball regular season is winding down and the calendar turns to March as #2 Alabama hosts in-state rival Auburn Wednesday night is Tuscaloosa. The Tide (25-4) looks to continue their strong play while the Tigers (19-10) look to pull the upset while strengthening their NCAA Tournament hopes.

Check out MyBookie’s college basketball betting odds for the pick of day.

Game of the Day: Auburn vs. Alabama Betting Preview

Auburn versus Alabama Betting Lines and Match Info Provided by MyBookie

When:
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 7:00 pm ET
Where:
Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
TV / Streaming:
ESPN 2

ATS Odds:
Alabama -1
Money line Odds:
Auburn Tigers +100 / Alabama Crimson Tide -120
Over/Under Odds:
156

Inside the Matchup

Alabama, depending on how deep it runs in the upcoming SEC Tournament, appears destined for its first-ever Number 1 seed in NCAA Tournament play when March Madness begins in a few weeks. Under fifth-year head man Nate Oats, Alabama has experienced somewhat of a basketball renaissance, advancing to the Field of 68 the last two seasons but do have a bitter taste in their mouths after falling to Notre Dame by 14 in opening round action a season ago.

Auburn, which was blown out by Kentucky, suddenly one of America’s hottest teams, is currently projected as a 10 seed in most mock brackets and will look to dance for the fourth time since the 2017-18 season. It is important to note the Tigers were 25-6 in 2019-2020 and would have appeared in the tournament had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to KenPom metrics, the Tide are projected to prevail in this matchup by 10 and enter the game winners of 8 of their last 9. The program has been the subject of some pretty heavy national scrutiny lately as it was recently revealed that freshman forward Brandon Miller delivered a gun to former teammate Darius Miles which was used to murder a 23-year-old woman.

Miller has been allowed to continue playing since the revelation and is currently the team’s leading scorer at 21.4 points per night. He dropped 41 two games ago at South Carolina and came back with 24 against Arkansas. Obviously, his presence and impact on the team is tremendous, and he seemingly has been able to avoid the distraction of the pending legal matter.

As a team, Bama averaged 83.3 points per game which is tied for fifth nationally, and they make 10.1 trifectas per game, good for 10th nationally. As is the case with an Oats-coaches team, they push tempo, averaging just 15.1 seconds per possession, fourth quickest in all of college basketball.

Auburn on the other hand, is known for its ability to score the ball as they average 72.1 points per game, but their offensive pace is the slowest it has been in the nine seasons under current coach Bruce Pearl. In fact, as recently as last season, Auburn was 42nd nationally in adjusted tempo, while they are 168th in 2022-23.

How to Play It

The teams previously met on February 11, with Alabama emerging with a 77-69 win. We envision, given Bama’s offensive prowess as of late (108 vs Georgia, 78 at South Carolina, and 86 vs. Arkansas), the markets will have this total pretty high. However, the Tide has won its last two games by just five points. For that reason, we really lean under here and would take Auburn here if the spread is anything more than eight points.

Auburn versus Alabama Betting Trends

Alabama Betting Records & Stats

Alabama’s games this season have gone over this contest’s total of 155.5 points five times.
Alabama has had an average of 152.4 points in its games this season, 3.1 fewer than this matchup’s total.
The Crimson Tide are 15-6-0 against the spread this season.
Alabama has won 17, or 89.5%, of the 19 games it has played as the favorite this season.
Alabama has not entered a game this season with shorter moneyline odds than -145.

Auburn Betting Records & Stats

Auburn has won six games against the spread this year in conference action, while failing to cover five times.
The Tigers have covered the spread in a game 12 times this season (12-12-0).
Auburn has an ATS record of 2-1 when playing as at least 2-point underdogs.
Auburn’s conference games have gone over the point total seven out of 11 times this season.
Games involving Auburn have hit the over 15 times this season.