The SEC is a gauntlet to navigate and lately, the Texas A&M Aggies have fallen on hard times. In any other conference, a four-game losing streak would drop you out of the rankings altogether, but with four consecutive losses to Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Florida, Buzz Williams’s team has only fallen 10 spots in the latest AP Top 25 to No. 22.
That slide down the rankings could be tough to stop with the No. 1 team in the country heading to College Station on Tuesday night. Auburn has continued to establish its SEC supremacy with six straight wins including a 94-78 victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Miles Kelly, not National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, led the way for the Tigers with a 30-point outburst on the road. That win locked up the regular season SEC title for Bruce Pearl’s group as the Tigers look to repeat as SEC Tournament champions in Nashville next week.
The Tigers could let their foot off the gas on Tuesday night in College Station, but even if Auburn puts it in cruise control for the penultimate game of the regular season, it’ll still be a tough team to beat. Here’s a look at how to watch this SEC matchup on ESPN, the betting odds for Tuesday night, and more.
How to watch Auburn vs. Texas A&M
- Date: Tuesday, March 4
- Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: Reed Arena
- How to Watch (TV): ESPN
- Streaming: fubo TV
- Auburn record: 27-2 (15-1)
- Texas A&M record: 20-9 (9-7)
Auburn vs. Texas A&M odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Auburn -255
- Texas A&M +205
Spread
- Auburn -5.5 (-120)
- Texas A&M +5.5 (-102)
Total
- 148.5 (over -115/under -105)
Auburn injury report
- N/A
Texas A&M injury report
- N/A
Texas A&M and Auburn series history
- Texas A&M all-time record vs. Auburn: 15-7
Auburn vs. Texas A&M prediction
Auburn is the best team in the country – there is no question about that. The Tigers will almost certainly, barring disaster in Nashville, be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and are the favorites to win it all. However, as a road favorite a few days removed from clinching the regular season conference title, it could be tough to back the Tigers.
Bruce Pearl is a master motivator and this season has spoken often about how with a shot at 18 Quad 1 victories, Auburn could make a case as one of the best regular season teams in history if it finishes out the year without another blemish. Still, last year Pearl’s team fell flat in the NCAA Tournament coming off an SEC Tournament title, so I’m hesitant to put much weight into Auburn’s gaudy statistical advantages on Tuesday night against A&M. Simply put, with four-straight losses, the Aggies will be hungrier, and that’s enough for me to avoid laying the points with a road favorite in SEC play.
In typical Buzz Williams fashion, the Aggies are best on the defensive end of the floor and play an aggressive and physical style. A&M is one of only a few teams in college basketball with over a 40% offensive rebound rate and scores an impressive 16.3 second-chance points a game (100th percentile according to CBBanalytics.com). The Tigers rebound well, but only slightly above average defensive rebound rate, so there will be putback opportunities for the Aggies.
Offensive rebounds aren’t the only reason I see a high-scoring game developing in College Station. Texas A&M has a 94th percentile 41.0% free throw attempt rate. The Aggies also allow a 35% FTA rate, while Auburn allows a 39.1% FTA rate. Both teams could spend much of the contest at the free-throw line which is a good recipe for more points than Vegas expects.