Arkansas vs Tennessee Prediction 1/3/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Tennessee Volunteers and the Arkansas Razorbacks meet Saturday in college basketball action from Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Here’s an Arkansas vs Tennessee prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Arkansas vs Tennessee pick.

Tennessee Volunteers Betting Preview

The Vols won their first seven games of the year, beating Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice, Tennessee State, Rutgers and Houston. After losses to Kansas, Syracuse and Illinois in succession, Tennessee has since won three straight over Louisville, Gardner-Webb and South Carolina State. That gives the Volunteers a 10-3 record overall this year.

In the South Carolina State game on Tuesday the Volunteers entered the second half with a 41-25 edge. Tennessee hit 64 more points from there, cruising to a dominant win 105-54 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Ja’Kobi Gillespie with 21 points and eight assists. Jalen Carey (13 points) and JP Estrella (12 points) each had 10 rebounds on the way to double-doubles.

Arkansas Razorbacks Betting Preview

Over on the Arkansas side, they beat Southern, Central Arkansas, Samford, Winthrop and Jackson State in their first six games ahead of another loss to Duke. Since then it’s been a 5-1 run with wins over Louisville, Fresno State, Texas Tech, Queens U and James Madison (and a loss to Houston), giving Arkansas a 10-3 overall record through their first 13 games this year so far.

In the James Madison matchup on Monday the Razorbacks entered the locker room with a dominant 48-28 edge. Arkansas hit a 55-46 stretch in the second and took the win 103-74 in the end. Topping the team was Meleek Thomas with 28 points and two boards. Darius Acuff had 17 points with six assists and Dajuan Wagner had 14 points with four assists in the win.

Why the Arkansas Razorbacks will win

• Arkansas has won each of its last 14 games as an AP-ranked team at Bud Walton Arena.
• Tennessee has lost three of its last four January games as an AP-ranked team.
• Arkansas has won the first half in each of its last 12 games as an AP-ranked team at Bud Walton Arena.

Why the Tennessee Volunteers will win

• Tennessee has won each of its last eight Saturday day games.
• Arkansas has lost five of its last six January games as an AP-ranked team.
• Tennessee has won the first half in each of its last four games.

Arkansas vs Tennessee Prediction

I’ll lean toward Arkansas but you could make a case either way. We should have a good matchup on our hands here. The Razorbacks rolled right past James Madison in their last game, shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from outside. Arkansas had 36 rebounds, 24 team assists and just six turnovers, but didn’t fare so well from the line (20-of-31 for 64.5 percent). The Razorbacks are scoring great over this 5-1 run, with 82 or more points in all six of those appearances.

As for Tennessee, they shot a smooth 60.9 percent from the field with 50 rebounds, 30 assists and 56 points in the paint against an overmatched South Carolina State team in their last game. The Vols weren’t great from the line either though, hitting 19-of-33 for 57.6 percent. Tennessee has scored 83 or more points in each installment of this current three-game win streak. We should have a pretty good total here if all goes well.