Posted at 1:00 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +7½ -110 BET365 +7½ -110 Sportsinteraction +7½ -110 888Sport +7½ -110

UAB +7½ over Memphis

FedExForum, Memphis, TN

Steaming: ESPN 2

5:30 PM EST. The Tigers of Memphis have seemingly righted their ship after being called out by head coach Penny Hardaway following their back-to-back losses to North Texas and SMU. In the latter, the coach criticized his team for “quitting” on his radio show. At the time, Hardaway said, “We just haven’t been a team in a long time. I’m fighting really hard for the school and for the city, and everybody needs to be pulling the rope in the same direction. Right now, everybody’s not pulling the rope in the same direction.”

Apparently, those words had an impact, as the Tigers have won three straight games and covered each of them, including a 76-52 win over Charlotte as a -6½-point favorite, a 78-74 victory over FAU as a small (+1½-point underdog), and an 82-58 triumph over East Carolina as a -4½-point favorite. It hasn’t taken long for the market to reverse course on the Tigers, as their stock is now on the uptick, and they are on the radar for an at-large bid, with many pundits suggesting the worst-case scenario for the selection committee being a UAB/Memphis American Athletic Conference (AAC) final, which would make it very hard for the loser of that game not to get the call for a ticket to The Big Dance.

While the Tigers are “getting right,” the Blazers have stumbled, going 1-2 over their last three games, including a 74-66 loss at Wichita State on Wednesday night. UAB was a -8-point favorite in that game at tip-off, and now they are a pooch in a similar range. That is a significant double-digit swing upwards of 15½ points at the time of this posting. That role change is one that potentially suits the Blazers, as the AAC is a conference whose teams are much closer in quality than the oddsmakers would have you believe, and this game fits that mould, while also being a “buy low, sell high” situation.

This is a game the Blazers are very capable of winning outright, but the inflated points being offered here are too sweet to leave on the table. Finally, we’ll note that Memphis has FAU up next, which creates the potential for a look-ahead spot, too. Check another box.

Sherwood

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