Texas A&M Aggies at Texas Longhorns Betting Preview

Opening Line: Aggies +14.5 / Longhorns -14.5 O/U 150.5

Time: 6 PM EST Saturday January 16, 2010 on ESPNU

Tonight the top-ranked Texas Longhorns host in-state rivals Texas A&M in a Big 12 match up. The Longhorns are stacked and playing great and have yet to lose this season. The Aggies are 1-1 in conference play and are coming off a loss in their last game, but had won their previous 3 games.

This season Texas is 10-0 at home and 8-4 ATS and Texas A&M is 1-2 on the road and 7-5 ATS.

In their last game Texas beat Iowa State 90-83 on Monday night while Texas A&M was crushed by Kansas State 88-65 on Sunday.

The Aggies do have a solid defense, but they have to play a great game on D tonight against a Longhorns team that is averaging 88.2 ppg.

The Longhorns are a legit defensive team as well and they are even better at home holding opponents to an average of 59 ppg on only 33.9% shooting. Texas has beaten their opponents at home by an average of 29.2 ppg.

To say the Aggies have to play better tonight than they did in their last game is a major understatement, as against 13th ranked Kansas State they only shot 36.4% from the floor and only hit 2 of their 17 3-point shots.

The Aggies have never beaten a #1 ranked team (0-3) and have lost 7 in a row at Texas.

Texas A&M has a solid backcourt with the trio of Donald Sloan (17.4 ppg), Derrick Roland (10.5 ppg), and B.J. Holmes (9.9 ppg). These 3 will have to shoot lights out tonight since Texas has a better frontcourt and are a much more athletic team.

Texas has a very well rounded team with guards Avery Bradley (12.7 ppg) and J'Covan Brown, guard/forwards Damion James (17.3 ppg) and Jordan Hamilton (9.8 ppg), and C Dexter Pittman (13.4 ppg).

Aggies' F Bryan Davis (7.3 rpg) is the only legit rebounder Texas A&M has, as no other Aggies player is averaging 5 rebounds per game. He will have a tough time tonight keeping both James (11.2 rpg) and Pittman (6.8 rpg) off the glass. The Aggies have to rebound well as a team, as if the Longhorns dominate the glass in the game Texas A&M has no chance to win.

Texas is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 home games, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite of 13.0 or greater, and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games against teams with a winning S.U. record. Texas A&M is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog of 13.0 or more, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games as a road underdog, and 12-3 ATS in their last 15 games following an ATS loss.


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