College Basketball Betting: No. 6 Tennessee Whacks No. 16 Vanderbilt in SEC Tilt

Chris Lofton and the Vols solved Vanderbilt. (AI Wire photo)

The SEC isn’t what it used to be. Defending national champion Florida sunk with the losses of its star players to the NBA and the Kentucky Wildcats are a below.-500 team under new coach Billy Gillispie.

The SEC does have two teams rising up the national rankings and they met in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday night. The Tennessee Volunteers were supposed to be good, but not the sixth-best team in the country, and the Vanderbilt Commodores were expected to surprise some people come March. They’ve been doing it already.

The Vols, though, proved superior thanks to their upperclassmen and strong guard play. Wayne Chism recorded 18 points and 18 rebounds in a 80-60 thumping of No. 16 Vandy.

The unrelated duo of Smith & Smith (Tyler and JaJuan) put up 14 points apiece for Tennessee, and Chris Lofton, the school’s all-time leading scorer, added 11.

The Vols covered the point spread, which favored them by 10.5, while the betting total was way under 166.

In other top 25 action in college hoops:

Cleveland State 56, No. 12 Butler 52: Students stormed the floor after the Vikings beat a top 25 team in the regular season for the first time in school history. Cleveland State had been 1-26 against ranked opponents dating to 1986. The Bulldogs were 6.5-point favorites on the road.

Louisville 71, No. 13 Marquette 51: The Cardinals sent notice to the Big East that they’ve recovered from early-season woes. Terrence Williams scored 20 points in a stunning victory over the Golden Eagles. Host Louisville was a 3.5-point underdog.

St. Louis 68, No. 23 Rhode Island 61: The great night for home underdogs continued as the Billikens held the Rams to a season-low point total. Rhode Island was a five-point favorite but ended up losing for the third time this season.

For college basketball odds for the weekend, pick and roll with the Bodog Sportsbook.