Tennessee Meets Iowa in First Four Matchup

First four action continues tonight in the NCAA Tournament when the Tennessee Volunteers play the Iowa Hawkeyes in Dayton, Ohio.

Iowa has not fared well against the number of late going 0-7 ATS over its past seven games.

The winner of tonight’s game will earn the No. 11 seed and play Massachusetts on Friday. Iowa is currently favored by 1.5 points, while the Hawkeyes are -142.5 on the money line.

Iowa is 0-3 SU and ATS over its past three NCAA Tournament games. Tennessee has play to five consecutive UNDERs. Iowa over its past 7 games played in 1-6 SU and 0-7 ATS. Tennessee on the other hand won 5 of its last 7 games overall.

Tennessee is 21-12 straight up and 16-14-1 against the spread this season. Iowa is 20-12 SU and 15-15 ATS. The OVER/UNDER for Tennessee is 13/18 and for Iowa is 20/10.

Iowa lost its last game played 67-62 to Northwestern, after beating Northwestern earlier in the season by 26 points. The Hawkeyes did not cover as a favorite by 13.5 points.

Tennessee lost its last game 56-49 to the Florida Gators in the SEC tournament semifinals. The Volunteers could not cover their 6-point spread as a dog.

Tennessee is led by Jordan McRae who averages nearly 19 points per game. Iowa leans on the abilities of the talented playmaker Roy Devyn Marble who is averaging 17 points per game.

Both these players should cancel one another out and that means the supporting casts of both teams will likely determine who wins and plays UMASS or who loses and go home for the summer.

Aaron White averages double figures in scoring for Iowa. However, he is the only other player besides Marble to average double figures. The Hawkeyes are considered by some to have the nation’s deepest roster.

Tennessee has two other strong scorers in Jeronne Maymon and Jarnell Stokes.

The Vols are playing excellent basketball, with their only loss in their past seven games against the Florida Gators in the SEC semifinals. That game was close the entire way with Florida taken to their limit to pull out the win.

Iowa is 0-5 against the spread in its past 5 games.

The total has cashed on the OVER in 9 of the past 11 games Iowa has played.

Tennessee has covered the spread in 4 of its past 5 games overall. The Volunteers are 5-1 straight up over their past 6 games played.

The total has cashed UNDER in each of the past 5 games Tennessee has played.

Prediction: The safe choice would be to take Tennessee as they have played much better basketball of late. Iowa has more talent top to bottom. However, the Hawkeyes have not played their A-game over the past month of this season. The current line has Iowa favored by 1.5 points but my pick would be the Tennessee Volunteers and the points.