Tuesday night in CBB we will see the 13th ranked Florida Gators travel to the Music City to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores as a part of ESPN's Super Tuesday.The game is scheduled for a 9:00 pm tipoff and will be televised live on ESPN. Currently Vanderbilt is favored by 3.5 points with the total being set at 140.5 for the game.
Free Analysis: The Gators and Commodores are second and third in the SEC standings, respectively. Vanderbilt lost 73-65 in the first encounter between the programs on Feb. 4th. The Gators trail 63-60 in the all-time series with Vandy, but have gone 22-11 against the Commodores with Billy Donovan at the helm. Florida would secure second place in the SEC with a win tonight as its 10-4 league record is only bettered by Kentucky's perfect mark at this point. The Gators had won three in a row and 10 of their past 12 entering Saturday, but looked nothing like the 11th-ranked team in the nation in their 76-62 loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday. There was plenty of blame to go around. The Gators hit a season-low five 3-pointers, gave up its highest field goal percentage to an opponent all season (52.6%) and tied a season low with eight assists. That 56.2% shooting they allowed the bulldogs was really alarming as Georgia is the SEC's worst scoring team. The Gators' starting backcourt of Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, and Bradley Beal combine to make one of the top three-guard attacks in the nation. The trio combined for 44 points in the loss to Georgia in their most recent action. Boynton leads the team with 17.3 ppg, while Beal averages 14.7 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per contest. Walker is leading the SEC with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio and is second with 4.8 apg. The Gators have had success on the offensive end (77.3 ppg) this season due to its tendency to rain threes on opponents. Florida leads the nation with 10.1 makes from beyond the arc per game, but it managed to make just 5-of-23 its last time out. Defensively the gators have allow 65.2 ppg. In their first meeting Florida held off the Commodores 73-65 on Feb. 4, using a 12-0 run midway through the second half. The Commodores held Florida to 38.3 percent shooting, but the Gators went 16-for-17 from the free-throw line. Florida's loss to Georgia has given Vandy an unexpected chance at earning a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. However, the Commodores are also only one game ahead of Alabama and Tennessee in the standings, which means a three- way tie for third is possible with a loss tonight. Two weeks after fighting gamely but running out of gas against Kentucky at home, the Commodores led the nation’s No. 1 team at halftime and stood toe-for-toe with the Wildcats again until the final minutes. The Commodores are a very similar team to Florida statistically, as they carry a scoring average of 73.9 ppg and allow opponents to score 66.1 ppg. Vandy will try to ride its dynamic duo of John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor to victory tonight. Jenkins is leading the SEC in scoring with 20.0 ppg after he has averaged 23.2 ppg in his last four games. The junior guard is on pace to become the first back-to-back SEC scoring champion since LSU's Ronnie Henderson accomplished the feat in 1995 and 1996. Taylor is the closest thing to disallowing Jenkins from another scoring title, as he is second in the conference with 17.3 ppg. VU's center Festus Ezeli will play a vital role tonight. The senior big man will need to protect the rim while Lance Goulbourne does his best to lead the Commodores in the rebounding battle. VU is 20-9 overall, but just 1-6 against ranked teams this season and they have a chance chance to tie for second place in the Southeastern Conference with a win tonight.
Free Pick: Gonna look to the home team in this one. Sure they are off a tough battle with Kentucky, but they did lose that game and still have a ton to play for. Florida is off a bad loss to Georgia and I see it hard for them to regroup in this one vs a much tougher team. The Gators have averaged just 62 ppg in their last 6 games vs teams not named Arkansas (they put up 98 in that one) and it wont get any easier tonight vs a Vandy team that allows just 64.1 ppg on 42.5% shooting. The Gators have been pretty solid on defense overall, but on the road they have struggled some as they have allowed 70.4 ppg on 46.5% shooting away from home. I feel at home the Commodores will shake off that loss to Kentucky and win this one by 7 or 8.
Free Picks: Florida at Vanderbilt Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Possible let down for Vanderbilt after Kentucky game and winner of this game locks down 2nd place in SEC game plus other factors college basketball bettors need to know about Marquette at Cincinnati (Tuesday, February 28, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Stephen Nover and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.