Tennessee and Texas A&M will clash in a Top 10 SEC matchup on Saturday night in College Station with only a handful of weeks remaining in the regular season.
While Tennessee can rest up with an open stretch this week, Texas A&M battled in a Top 25 road contest on Tuesday night in Starkville. The No. 7 Aggies fell to No. 21 Mississippi State on Tuesday night by a score of 70-54 despite leading by one point at halftime. Texas A&M fell apart in the final 20 minutes on the road, allowing 40 points to the Bulldogs while only scoring 23 itself.
Texas A&M veteran guard Wade Taylor IV totaled 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting while the Aggies shot just 35.8% from the floor and 61.5% from the free-throw line. A&M also turned the ball over 19 times on the road.
After an unsuccessful trip to The Magnolia State on Tuesday, the Aggies now return to College Station to prepare for a well-rested Tennessee team in an early game on Saturday. Considering the Aggies are just one game up on the Vols in the SEC standings, Texas A&M can’t afford a 0-2 week after Tuesday’s result. The Vols are looking to play spoiler.
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Tennessee should be well-prepared for this game. The Vols earned a comeback victory over in-state rival Vanderbilt last Saturday in Knoxville and were rewarded with their first and only bye week of the season afterward. No mid-week game for the Vols this week means more time for Tennessee to prepare for a critical road game in the Lone Star State.
The Vols currently sit at No. 6 in the SEC standings before Wednesday’s slate of conference games. Tennessee is 3.5 games behind Auburn while Missouri is 3.0 games back and Texas A&M is 2.5 games back. Florida trails Auburn by 1.5 games while Alabama sits just one game back.
There are no odds set for the game at the time of this publication but ESPN’s Analytics do have it as nearly a tossup, giving Tennessee a 49.6% chance to win the game on Saturday.
No. 7 Texas A&M (20-6, 9-4 SEC) will host No. 6 Tennessee (21-5, 8-5 SEC) at Noon ET on Saturday in College Station. It’ll be an early game in Reed Arena with tip-off happening at 11:00 a.m. local time.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider on X for coverage of the Vols and Agges’ Top 10 matchup.