Unexpected Alliances: How Cougars and Volunteers Are Changing the Game and Surprising Everyone

You ever wonder if Thanksgiving week basketball is the awkward cousin of March Madness? Not quite the frenzy, but boy, does it bring some tantalizing matchups to the table. Today, I’ve got my eye on a real barnburner—Tennessee Volunteers versus the Houston Cougars. Both unbeaten, both top-20, and both bringing different flavors to the court. Tennessee certainly looks sharp at 6-0, with Ja’Kobi Gillespie lighting it up like nobody’s business, but Houston? They’re battle-tested, coming off a gritty overtime win and sporting last year’s National Championship scars. Can Tennessee’s offense crack that defensive shell? Or will Houston’s resilience prove too much? The line’s nudging towards the Volunteers, but something tells me this one’s going over 135.5—because when two hungry teams clash, points tend to pile up. Ready for some hoops drama? LEARN MORE.

Tennessee vs. Houston, 6:00 ET

I lost in hoops yesterday, but it was a professional game, so I am hoping the college ranks treat me a bit better. It isn’t much of a surprise that we get some great games this week, as the Thanksgiving week usually brings some interesting tournaments. It isn’t quite like the March Madness Tournament, or even the Conference Tournaments, but we get some matchups between high-ranked teams, and some games between very good opponents. Today, the game I have circled is against two top-20 teams, the Tennessee Volunteers and the Houston Cougars.

Tennessee is off to a fantastic start to its season, sitting at 6-0 for the year. They haven’t really played many teams of substance, but they did play yesterday and beat Rutgers. I wouldn’t say that Rutgers is a juggernaut, but certainly, they have more talent than the previous five teams that the Volunteers faced. A reason for Tennessee fans to be excited about the win yesterday is that it was the first game of the season away from the comfort of their home stadium, and the team still scored 85 points. It was the second lowest team total of the year, but so many schools get into a funk the moment they go into a different gym. Senior Ja’Kobi Gillespie was definitely comfortable in the game, dropping 32 points on Rutgers, and he was efficient doing it in 29 minutes. He shot 55% from the field overall, and 60% from three. Don’t expect that same level of success today as Houston is a team built on defense, and they certainly will take note of Gillespie’s early season success.

The Cougars had a bit of a scare yesterday, and that could come into play today because Houston had to use their legs a bit more than normal, playing in overtime as well. So far, Houston is 6-0, and they are the third ranked team in the nation. Keep in mind, this is a program that made it to the National Championship last season, but they’ve somewhat had to rebuild their team. This will be their third game away from home, and in the first two, they haven’t looked quite as poised. The first game was against Auburn. In fairness to the Cougars, the game against Auburn was technically a neutral-site game, but it was played in Alabama. I’m pretty sure that crowd had a clear rooting favorite. Either way, the Cougars escaped with a 1-point victory. Yesterday, Sryacuse had a chance to take down the Cougars. It was back-and-forth for most of the game, but Houston did pull away from Syracuse, going up 11 points with around three minutes left. Houston kept turning the ball over, leading to easy buckets for the Orange. Houston pulled it out in overtime.

There is no question in my mind that Houston is not the third-best team in the country, at least not right now. However, I’m also not really excited about the prospect of jumping on them with Tennessee. The line is moving in favor of the Volunteers, and I recognize why. The total for the game is just 135. Houston has allowed 70+ to both ranked opponents. They’ve only held down bad teams at the moment. While I expect there to be a smart gameplan, I will back the over here as I expect both teams to get into the 70s. Back over 135.5.

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