Tennessee basketball returns home Tuesday night to face Louisville in a top 25 showdown. The Vols are looking to end a three-game losing streak and get back on track in their final test before SEC play begins on Jan. 3.
Back at home, Tennessee is in an unfamiliar position. Louisville is 1.5-point favorites over Tennessee according to the DKSportsbook. It’s the first time Tennessee has been home underdogs since Feb. 29, 2020 against Florida according to Odd Shark.
If the small line holds until tipoff, it will end a 86-game streak where Tennessee basketball was home favorites. The Vols are 76-10 outright in those previous 86 games as home favorites.
Tennessee won its last game as a home underdog, knocking off Florida 63-58 behind 22 points from John Fulkerson. The Gators were just one-point favorites in that matchup.
Of course, Tennessee is also very slight underdogs against Louisville. In fact, KenPom predicts Tennessee to earn an 80-79 victory against the Cardinals. The KenPom prediction and Las Vegas betting lines are often very similar.
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The Vols enter the matchup having lost three straight games. Tennessee fell to Kansas in its final game in the Players Era Festival. They then lost at Syracuse in the ACC-SEC Challenge before losing to Illinois in Nashville.
Tennessee’s loss at Syracuse was truly the only bad loss of the stretch with Kansas and Illinois each performing like top 20 teams. But the three straight losses is a rare spot for Rick Barnes’ program. A four-game losing streak would be Tennessee’s first since Barnes’ first season.
The challenge is significant for the Vols. Louisville is off to a 9-1 start to the season with wins over Kentucky, Cincinnati, Indiana and Memphis. The Cardinals were dominant their last time out, routing Memphis 99-73 on Saturday.
Led by the backcourt trio of Ryan Conwell, Mikel Brown Jr and Isaac McKneely, Louisville has the nation’s No. 2 offense according to KenPom.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Louisville is 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes are on the call for ESPN.
