The No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (4-0) will square off against the Virginia Cavaliers (3-0) in the semifinals of the 2024 Baha Mar Championship event on Thursday night. Tennessee extended its unbeaten start to the season with a 103-68 win over Austin Peay on Sunday after beating Louisville on the road two weeks ago. Virginia is coming off a 70-60 victory over Villanova to win its third straight game to open the season. The winner of this game will face the winner of Baylor vs. St. John's in the championship on Friday night.
Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at Baha Mar Convention Center on CBS Sports Network. Tennessee is favored by 12.5 points in the latest Virginia vs. Tennessee odds, while the over/under is 125.5 points per SportsLine consensus. Before entering any Tennessee vs. Virginia picks, you'll want to see the NCAA Basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The model simulates every Division 1 college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters Week 3 of the 2024-25 season on a 156-114 betting roll (+1762) on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to 2023. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Tennessee-Virginia. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball betting lines for the game:
- Virginia vs. Tennessee spread: Tennessee -12.5
- Virginia vs. Tennessee over/under: 125.5 points
- Virginia vs. Tennessee money line: Tennessee: -787, Virginia: +556
- Virginia vs. Tennessee picks: See picks here
- Virginia vs. Tennessee streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
Why Tennessee can cover
Tennessee is coming off one of the best seasons in program history, reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time. The Vols have picked up where they left off, winning four straight games by 15-plus points to open the season. Their most impressive showing came on the road against Louisville, where they beat the Cardinals by 22 points after closing as 2.5-point underdogs.
Senior guard Chaz Lanier, who transferred from North Florida, scored 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Tennessee has added blowout wins over Montana and Austin Peay since then, with Charlotte transfer Igor Milicic Jr. scoring a combined 41 points in those victories. The Vols have covered the spread in four of their last six games, and they are 5-1 in their last six games against ACC opponents. See which team to pick here.
Why Virginia can cover
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett decided to retire just three weeks before the start of the season, leaving assistant Ron Sanchez as the interim coach. He has done an excellent job through the first three games of the campaign, leading the Cavaliers to three straight wins. They are coming off a 70-60 win over Villanova as 3.5-point underdogs last Friday, led by 23 points from junior guard Isaac McKneely.
McKneely shot 8 of 9 from the floor and knocked down all six of his 3-point attempts, while junior guard Andrew Rohde had 13 points and four assists off the bench. McKneely is averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game, followed by freshman forward Jacob Cofie (13.0) and junior forward Elijah Saunders (10.3). The Cavaliers are always dangerous as big underdogs due to their stingy defense, which is allowing just 53.7 points per game this season. See which team to pick here.
How to make Virginia vs. Tennessee picks
The model has simulated Tennessee vs. Virginia 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in over 60% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Virginia vs. Tennessee, and which side of the spread hits over 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Tennessee vs. Virginia spread you need to jump on, all from the model that is on a 156-114 roll on top-rated college basketball picks, and find out.