Ole Miss vs Louisville prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball
12/03/2024 07:09 AM
It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with an Ole Miss-Louisville prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Ole Miss-Louisville.
The college basketball season just concluded Feast Week, which is one of the special segments of the larger campaign. However, one could make the argument that this next week is an even bigger week. Fewer neutral-site games are on the calendar, but more power-conference battles emerge, with the ACC and SEC going head to head in some compelling showdowns. This is one of them, with Ole Miss taking on Louisville.
We all saw Louisville make the final of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament last week, falling narrowly to Oklahoma in the championship game. One of the players who was helping the Cardinals improve dramatically in the first season under new coach Pat Kelsey was forward Kasean Pryor. He got injured, suffering a torn ACL, and is out for the season. That’s a huge blow for a Louisville team which, under Kelsey, had turned the page from the disastrous tenure of previous coach Kenny Payne and had restored the good name of Louisville basketball. Kelsey looks like a great hire. He has instantly breathed new life into the Cardinals, who look very much like an NCAA Tournament team. Louisville beat Indiana and West Virginia in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The win over Indiana was a total wipeout, a game UL dominated nearly the whole way. Everything was pointing in the right direction for this team, but now we have to see if the Pryor injury significantly alters the equation for the Cards, who are connected and cohesive on the court but might have lost an essential piece to their roster. We are going to find out just how essential Pryor was to their whole operation, and if Kelsey can make immediate adjustments to minimize the impact of this blow to the team.
Ole Miss just had a good Feast Week in San Diego, beating BYU and coming agonizingly close to beating Purdue on Thanksgiving Weekend. The Rebels bagged one good win and noticeably improved their strength of schedule. We typically think of Chris Beard as a defense-first coach, but Ole Miss got involved in high-scoring games during Feast Week, scoring almost 100 in the win over BYU and losing 80-78 to Purdue. It will be interesting to see if Ole Miss remains a team that goes to the races and scores in bunches, or if this team is ready to slow down the pace and play games in the 60s and low 70s. Ole Miss’s offense struggled at times in the earlier part of the season. The Rebel offense looked dramatically better last week. We will see if Ole Miss can carry that level of offensive production into this game against Louisville.
Here are the Ole Miss-Louisville College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Ole Miss-Louisville Odds
Ole Miss: +3.5 (-115)
Moneyline: +128
Louisville: -3.5 (-105)
Moneyline: -154
Over: 148.5 (-115)
Under: 148.5 (-105)
How to Watch Ole Miss vs Louisville
Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
TV: ACC Network
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Ole Miss Will Cover The Spread/Win
The spread is surprisingly tilted in Louisville’s favor, given the Kasean Pryor injury. This spread would have made sense if Pryor was available for UL. As is, Louisville missing a key player should give Ole Miss a great chance to win. Ole Miss getting any points at all, one could argue, is a gift.
Why Louisville Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Cards don’t have Kasean Pryor, but they have Pat Kelsey now. Louisville basketball is back. The KFC Yum Center will be jumping because Louisville basketball fans have their team back. There will be so much energy in the building that this team can overcome a key injury loss and find a way to get the job done.
Final Ole Miss-Louisville Prediction & Pick
The Pryor injury pushes us toward Ole Miss, but this is a Louisville home game with an energetic crowd. Wait for a live in-game play in this one.
Final Ole Miss-Louisville Prediction & Pick: Ole Miss +3.5
The post Ole Miss vs Louisville prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball appeared first on ClutchPoints.
