The Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Alabama is favored by 6.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -278. The total is set at 163.5 points.
Here are my Alabama vs. Arkansas predictions and college basketball picks for February 8, 2025.
Alabama vs Arkansas Prediction
My Pick: Alabama -6.5 or Better
My Alabama vs Arkansas best bet is on the Tide spread, with the best odds currently available at Caesars. For all of your college basketball bets, find the best lines using our live NCAAB odds page.
Alabama vs Arkansas Odds
| Alabama Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-6.5 -110 | 163.5 -110 / -110 | -278 |
| Arkansas Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+6.5 -110 | 163.5 -110 / -110 | +225 |
- Alabama vs Arkansas spread: Alabama -6.5
- Alabama vs Arkansas over/under: 163.5 points
- Alabama vs Arkansas moneyline: Alabama -278, Arkansas +225
- Alabama vs Arkansas best bet: Alabama -6.5 or Better
Spread
I'm backing the Tide to cover as road favorites.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the total.
My Pick: Alabama -6.5 or Better
Alabama vs Arkansas College Basketball Betting Preview
This is a pretty good letdown spot for the Hogs following monster back-to-back wins over Kentucky and Texas. ShotQuality graded both games as analytical losses based on the “quality” of shots taken and allowed, so they got a bit lucky to pull those out (e.g., shooting 20-for-42 from 3).
While Alabama is probably overdue for a loss, I’m uncertain if Arkansas can stop the Tide’s shrink-3 offense.
Alabama ruthlessly attacks off the dribble to get to the rim, collapses the defense and then kicks the ball out for a triple.
Like most Nate Oats offenses, the Tide rank near the top of the SEC in rim-and-3 rate (89%, second, per ShotQuality) and rim-and-3 PPP (1.16, third, per ShotQuality).
While the Razorbacks’ ball-screen and dribble-penetration defense has steadily improved, they’re still among the SEC’s worst rim-and-3 offenses (15th in rate allowed, 12th in PPP allowed).
They also struggle mightily to defend dribble hand-off actions (.98 PPP allowed, 16th percentile, per Synergy), a staple of the Oats’ attack.
On the other end of the court, I’ve been super impressed with Alabama’s transition defense this year (.95 PPP allowed, 80th percentage, per Synergy).
If you keep the Hogs out of transition, I don’t trust Coach Cal’s half-court offense, and I doubt they shoot 50% from 3 against the Tide’s rock-solid drop-coverage and 3-point-denial defense.
I also wonder if the Hogs will eventually miss Boogie Fland, who's now out for the season.
While they've performed admirably without him, he was averaging over 15 points and five assists per game, and it's tough to replicate that production.
Regardless, I think the Tide rim-and-3 their way to a convincing road win here over an Arkansas team due for a loss after a few big-but-lucky wins.
