The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Florida Gators meet in college basketball action from the Bridgestone Arena on Thursday as part of the SEC conference tournament. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
Mississippi State is listed as a 3.5-point favorite with the total for this game set at 130.5 points.
Injuries
Mississippi State has a clean injury report coming into this game while Florida still has Colin Castleton listed as out for the season with a hand injury.
Matchup History
Florida’s 61-59 win back on January 21st, 2023, made it back-to-back wins for the Gators in this head-to-head matchup.
Trends
Mississippi State is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall and 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record. Florida is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 8-1 in their last 9 games overall.
Pick
I’m siding with Mississippi State here. The Bulldogs own one of the best defensive units in the country, and that’s not a good matchup for a Gators team that’s without their best player in Colin Castleton and the Gators have struggled without him in the lineup. I was going to have a hard time backing Florida prior to this matchup, but with this opponent, Florida’s in tough here. Give me the Bulldogs.