College Basketball Betting: No. 11 Auburn A Solid Home Favorite Over No. 16 LSU

Bad news for sports bettors: College football’s regular season has come to a close.

Good news for sports bettors: College basketball’s regular season is heating up fast, with many of the power conferences getting a jump-start on league action in December.

Wednesday’s marquee matchup is a high-profile SEC clash between two Elite Eight contenders — a pair of schools perhaps better known for dominating the world of college football.

No. 16 LSU at No. 11 Auburn

Tipoff Time: 7 p.m. EST
Venue: Auburn Arena (Auburn, AL)
TV: ESPN2
LSU: 12-0 SU/10-2 ATS
Auburn: 11-1 SU/8-4 ATS

Odds: Side & Total

*Odds updated as of 3:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 29.

Betting Trends

LSU

• LSU is 19-7-1 ATS in its last 27 overall and 5-2 ATS in its last seven on the road (2-1 ATS in road/neutral-site games this year)
• The Tigers are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 following a SU win
• The Under is 9-1 in LSU’s last 10 overall and 8-0 in its last eight following a spread-cover
• LSU has topped the total in 37 of its last 52 road games and 47 of its last 67 as an underdog. The over is also 16-4-1 in the Tigers’ last 21 Wednesday tilts

Auburn

• Auburn is on ATS runs of 6-2 overall, 5-1 at home, 9-3-1 as a favorite and 12-3-1 as a home chalk
• The Under is 9-1 in the Tigers’ last 10 home games
• The Over is 14-3 in Auburn’s last 17 games against winning teams

The Series

• The favorite has cashed in four of the last five meetings
• The road team is 8-3 ATS in the last 11 regular-season matchups

Odds & Ends

— LSU, which has yet to encounter a Top 25 team this season, had a 2-7 SU record against nationally-ranked foes last season. The two victories: 78-65 vs. No. 16 Tennessee in February and 78-71 over No. Arkansas in the SEC tournament semifinals.

— Auburn is 3-0 SU/2-1 ATS against power-conference opponents this season, all at neutral sites. The Tigers thumped Nebraska 99-68 as a 14.5-point favorite on Dec. 11; crushed Syracuse 89-68 as a 5.5-point chalk on Nov. 26; and lost to Connecticut 115-109 in double overtime as a 2.5-point underdog on Nov. 24.

— LSU is 3-6 SU versus ranked teams on the road since the 2017-18 campaign. Of the combined totals from those nine contests — 158, 138, 181, 144, 152, 158, 145, 165, and 137 — seven went above tonight’s consensus tally of 143 points.

— Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Auburn is 5-2 SU at home against ranked opponents. The combined totals: 170, 181, 164, 162, 174, 165, and 209 points. The Tigers scored at least 82 points in all seven games.

— LSU has posted double-digit victories in 10 of its 12 games. The exceptions were a 68-63 overtime triumph over Penn State as an 8.5-point neutral-site favorite (Nov. 26 in Destin, Fla.), and a 66-57 win over Louisiana Tech as an 11-point home favorite (Dec. 18).

— Six of Auburn’s last seven wins also have been double-digit routs. The average victory margin during this period was 19.1 points, with the Tigers posting four 20-plus-point wins.

— This season, LSU and its opponents are averaging 133.6 combined points per game, while Auburn and its competition are averaging 145.2 points per outing.

— At DraftKings, Auburn currently has the 16th-best odds to win the NCAA title (+4,000). LSU slots 20th on the national championship odds board (+4,500), tied with Texas Tech and Arkansas.

— Player to Watch: Auburn freshman Jabari Smith has drawn comparisons to a young Kevin Durant. As such, he’s on the shortlist of candidates for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NBA draft.

The 6-foot-10 Smith leads the Tigers in scoring (16.2 ppg), ranks second in rebounding (7.2 per game), and third in assists (2.3 per game). He’s also shooting 45.2 percent from three-point range — which is actually a notch higher than his overall field-goal proficiency (44.8 percent). Smith, whose campaign for SEC Player Of The Year ostensibly begins tonight, has two double-doubles in his last three games (against Murray State and North Alabama).