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Tennessee will face off against the George Mason Patriots on Tuesday evening. The Volunteers have had a poor start to the 2023/24 season, while the Patriots have gotten off to a flying start. So with Tennessee looking a bit vulnerable, can the Patriots cause an upset at the Thompson-Boling Arena? Here, we look ahead to the match and answer that question in our latest NCAAB betting picks.
- What; 2023/24 NCAA Men’s Basketball
- Who; Tennessee Volunteers vs. George Mason Patriots
- Where; Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
- When; Tuesday, December 5th 2023
- Time; 6.30 pm ET
The Volunteers are ranked 17. They started the season at 11 and climbed as high as seven. But they have crashed by ten places over the past two weeks after three successive defeats against top-25 AP-ranked teams. A match against the Patriots should represent a good chance for the Volunteers to get back to winning ways after their recent struggles.
As for the George Mason Patriots, they are enjoying life at the moment and have an impressive 7-1 record this season. None of the teams they have defeated are currently ranked in the top 25. So this match-up against Tennessee will represent a step up in class for the Patriots. It will also serve as a good marker to see if they can push on and achieve better things this year after a fifth-place finish in the Atlantic 10 last season.
Betting to win the 2024 Championship
Before we move onto tonight’s match odds, we’re going to take a look at who the best college basketball betting sites are saying is going to win the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship match.
The Kansas Jayhawks started the season as the favorites at +1000. But after a stuttering start, the Jayhawks were replaced by the Purdue Boilermakers at the top of the betting. The Boilermakers are currently the +1100 betting favorites to win the championship in 2024.
The closest betting rivals to Purdue are Marquette and Arizona, who are joint-second favorites at +1200. The Jayhawks now find themselves fourth favorites at odds of +1400. As for the Volunteers, they are +2500.
Tennessee Volunteers vs. George Mason Patriots Match Betting
On the handicap line, the Patriots are receiving a 15.5-point start. To win with the spread, the Patriots are -110. To win and cover the spread, the Tennessee Volunteers are -110.
Onto the points spread, the top-rated sportsbooks have set the total at 134.5 points. Over and under 134.5 are both -110.
More betting options are available on our NCAA Men’s Basketball betting table. All the college basketball odds we have used are taken from the top-rated NCAA betting sites.
| Tennessee Volunteers vs. George Mason |  |  |  |
| Tennessee | -2500 | N/A | N/A |
| George Mason | +900 | N/A | N/A |
| Tennessee (-15.5) | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| George Mason (+15.5) | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Over 134.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 134.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
Volunteers looking to end three-match losing streak
The Tennessee Volunteers got their season off to a solid start, winning their first four matches. But, none of their opening four fixtures were against top-25 ranked teams, and they were all matches that Rick Barnes would expect his team to win.
Sadly for Barnes, his next three matches were all against top-25-ranked teams, and the Volunteers came up short in all of them. Two of the fixtures were part of the Maui Invitational championship in Honolulu, where Tennessee lost 71-67 to the Boilermakers and 69-60 to the Jayhawks.
NO. 17 NORTH CAROLINA DEFEATS NO. 10 TENNESSEE 🐏
The Heels fend off the Vols and get their second ranked win of the season 👏 pic.twitter.com/sZZxtagTrR
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 30, 2023
Then, in their most recent outing, the Volunteers crashed to a 100-92 defeat at the hands of the Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center in North Carolina. The Volunteers got badly beaten up in the first half against North Carolina, finding themselves 61-39 down at the halfway point. They can take heart from their second-half rally that saw them reduce the deficit from 22 points to eight.
Thankfully for the Volunteers, they are back in the familiar surroundings of the Thompson-Boling Arena for this match. And it’s a good job they are because they are in desperate need of a win.
Our Tennessee Volunteers vs. George Mason Patriots Betting Picks
The two defeats in Honolulu would have been disappointing for a Volunteers team that will be hoping to improve on last season’s performance, where they exited the postseason NCAA Tournament at the Sweet Sixteen stage.
But at the same time, they weren’t what we might call shocks. Their first-half performance against UNC was a shock. No one saw that coming. But luckily, they fought back in the second period and brought respectability back to the scoreline.
And it’s the second-half performance that will give the Volunteers belief heading into the match against George Mason. As will the Patriots’ poor record on the road.
The Patriots are stronger at home. Of that, there is no doubt. In the 2022/23 season they had a 14-2 record in Virginia, and this year they are currently at 5-0. Unfortunately for the Patriots, this match is in Tennessee. And all of a sudden, their road record of 4-7 last season and 1-1 this season makes them look ripe for picking off.
The Volunteers desperately need a win. And we say they will get it. The Tennessee Volunteers to win and cover the spread is our betting pick.
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