Tennessee State Tigers at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Pick – Odds and ATS Predictions

The Tennessee State Tigers (4-12) and Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (6-11) will square off in Cookeville, Tennessee on Thursday, January 17th, 2019 for a pivotal Ohio Valley Conference clash and a renewal of a bitter intra-state rivalry. This Volunteer State collision will be broadcasted on ESPNU. Tennessee Tech has controlled this feud as of late despite a lot of resistance from Tennessee State. The Golden Eagles have won four of the last five meetings between both sides and been a cash cow while doing so as they are 4-1 ATS in the previous five contests. This sells the Golden Eagles immensely despite the fact two of these four victories came in overtime, all of which were settled by six points or less. The last meeting between the two earlier this month on Tennessee State’s court was a thriller as it was decided by a basket in a 66-64 upset pulled by Tennessee Tech who closed as a 5.5-point underdog.

Tennessee State Tigers at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Overview

Tennessee State Tigers

The Tigers overall enter into this affair in bad form as they have gone 2-8 SU in their previous ten fixtures. However, it is worth annotating here that the Tigers are just a game behind the Golden Eagles in the conference standings as they are 1-3 in the OVC compared to Tennessee Tech who sit with a conference record of 2-2. Most recently, State was defeated by Morehouse State five days ago at home by a score of 74-61 failing to cover as a two-point dog. The Tigers have won just one game this year on the road.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles enter in off a 67-60 loss on January 12th when they hosted Eastern Illinois and came up short as a one-point favorite. Tech stands at 5-3 SU on their own court this year and have won two of their previous four contests.

Reasons To Back Tennessee State

The difference in win and loss record can be chalked up to the Tigers playing a superior out-of-conference schedule regarding strength as KenPom ranks their Non-Conference SOS as 54th compared to Tennessee Tech who sits 164th. In addition to this, the Tigers have been snake-bitten as they stand 296th in KenPom’s Luck quotient which means they were on the receiving end of many bad bounces in close games. With the forecast for this affair being a contest that could be settled by a single possession, the Tigers could be in line to get one back here when you combine this narrative with their motivation to get Tennessee Tech off their back.

Reasons To Avoid Tennessee Tech

The Golden Eagles are in a position here to be set up for an overreaction against Tennessee State given the fact they orchestrated an upset outright in their last meeting earlier this month. When you combine this with Tech’s supremacy in this rivalry series and State’s poor road record, the Golden Eagles are subject to a potential overlay as a result. Be that as it may, the market is still reluctant to give away more than a three-pointer to a Tennessee State team that has looked abysmal outside of its own stead. This resonates with us.