Tennessee vs Louisville Prediction 12/16/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Louisville Cardinals and the Tennessee Volunteers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Here’s a Tennessee vs Louisville prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Tennessee vs Louisville pick.

Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview

The Cardinals opened the year on a nice win streak, taking victories in each of their first seven outings. Louisville toppled South Carolina State, Jackson State, Kentucky, Ohio, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan and NJIT in that time, then took their first loss versus Arkansas. Since then however, the Cardinals have gotten back on track with wins over Indiana and Memphis. That gives Louisville a 9-1 overall record so far this year.

In their latest outing versus Memphis on Saturday, the Cardinals jumped out to a 57-37 edge by the break. Louisville hit a 42-36 run the rest of the way and took the victory in the end 99-73. Leading the team in scoring was Ryan Conwell with 17 points, two rebounds and two assists. Adrian Wooley added 15 points with three rebounds and three assists while Mikel Brown had 16 points with three assists in the win.

Tennessee Volunteers Betting Preview

Over on the Tennessee side, they also opened up the year on a nice win streak. The Vols took out Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice, Tennessee State, Rutgers and Houston in succession over their first seven games then took a loss to Kansas. Since then, it’s been two more losses for Tennessee. Those have come courtesy of Syracuse and Illinois, giving the Volunteers a 7-3 overall run across their first 10 outings.

In the December 6 matchup versus Illinois, the Volunteers held a two-point edge at halftime. Tennessee was outscored 43-28 the rest of the way, however, leading to a 75-62 loss in the end. Leading the scoring was Ja’Kobi Gillespie, the only team player to finish in double-digits with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Nate Ament got close on nine points with four rebounds, however.

Why the Tennessee Volunteers will win

• Tennessee has won each of its last 48 night games against non-Conference opponents at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
• Louisville has lost eight of its last nine games against the Southeastern Conference.
• Tennessee has won the first half in 33 of its last 34 night games against non-Conference opponents at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Why the Louisville Cardinals will win

• Louisville has won each of its last six games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
• Tennessee has lost each of its last three games.
• Louisville has won the first half in 30 of its last 34 games.

Total Points Facts

• Seventeen of Tennessee’s last 18 games against non-Conference opponents have produced a total of 157 or fewer points.
• Thirty-nine of Louisville’s last 47 night games against AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 156 or fewer points.

Tennessee vs Louisville Prediction

I’ll stick with Louisville. The Cardinals handled a middling Memphis team quite well in their last outing, hitting 55.6 percent from the field with 51.4 percent (18-of-35) from outside and 84 percent (21-of-25) from the line. The only real areas of complaint were points in the paint (a 40-24 deficit) and turnovers (13) but otherwise the Cards did well. Louisville is scoring great this year with 74 or more points in every game. They’ve posted 80 or more points in nine of 10 games as well.

As for Tennessee, they faltered in the second half of their latest game against Illinois, which was way back on December 6. The Vols shot just 36.9 percent from the field in that one with 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from the line. Tennessee has just 122 combined points over their last two games (and they’re sitting on three straight losses) so their offense needs a kick.