As the college basketball calendar moves closer to conference play across all leagues, all eyes are on one of the more intriguing nonconference showdowns of the season. The undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores travel to take on the Memphis Tigers in a game between two teams from the state of Tennessee. Vanderbilt arrives in Memphis having already posted a 10-0 record and earning a top-15 national ranking, while the Tigers look to defend FedExForum and improve on a 4-5 start. Before tip-off, you will find my Vanderbilt vs Memphis prediction below.
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Vanderbilt enters this game undefeated at 10-0, their best start since the 2007-08 season. The Commodores are averaging over 95 points per game with strong shooting percentages across the board. Tyler Nickel posted a career-high 30 points in their most recent win against Central Arkansas, and shooters like Duke Miles and Frankie Collins give Vanderbilt a nice selection of scoring threats.
Memphis has struggled to find consistency, with a 4-5 record to start the season. They have done their best work at home, where they are 4-1 this season. The Tigers allow nearly 77 points per contest and have been outscored overall, showing defensive vulnerabilities that Vanderbilt’s high-powered offense can expose. Key contributors like Dug McDaniel and Aaron Bradshaw offer scoring ability, but the Tigers must improve on defense to stay within range against Vandy.
It will be interesting to see how the crowd is split for this matchup. This is a home game for Memphis, but Vanderbilt resides in the same state in Nashville. We could see Vandy's supporters make their presence felt in FedEx Forum tonight, a venue that is certainly big enough to house fans of both sides.
Score Projection: Vanderbilt 88 – Memphis 75
Win Probability: Vanderbilt 74%, Memphis 26%
I think we are going to see a competitive first half in this contest before Vanderbilt pulls away in the final 10 minutes or so. Vandy is so good at wearing down opposing defenses, thanks in large part to the number of different ways they can find scoring at any given time. My recommendation for this contest is to lay the points with Vanderbilt, who should stay undefeated and hand Memphis another loss in what has been an underwhelming season for the Tigers thus far.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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