SEC positioning is on the line Tuesday when Tennessee travels to Rupp Arena to face Kentucky in a 7 p.m. ET tipoff. After this game opened as a pick'em, Kentucky is favored by 2.5 points. The over-under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 141.
In such a huge conference battle that has already seen significant line movement, you need to see what SportsLine analyst Josh Nagel has to say.
Nagel is a Nevada-based expert with almost two decades of experience in the handicapping industry. He has won multiple handicapping contests and specializes in picking college sports.
Last week, he locked in Kentucky (+8) as a big underdog at West Virginia. The result: Kentucky not only covered, but pulled off the upset. He then locked in Vanderbilt (+10) against Kentucky and saw the Commodores easily cover in an 83-81 loss that came down to the wire.
Those were two more easy cashes for Nagel, who has developed a knack for Kentucky basketball as evidenced by his rock-solid 11-2 run picking for or against Big Blue.
Anybody following his picks is way, way up right now.
Now, Nagel has studied every angle of Tuesday's matchup and locked in a strong point-spread pick. He's sharing it only at SportsLine.
Nagel knows that No. 15 Tennessee has emerged as a big-time contender this season as the surprising Vols have gone from a team picked to finish 13th in the conference in the preseason to a 17-5 record and a 7-3 mark in SEC play. They sit second in the conference standings, behind only Auburn.
The Vols use a strong defense and a balanced offense that has led to eight wins in their past nine outings, including a comfortable 76-65 victory over Kentucky in Knoxville on Jan. 7.
But just because UT claimed the first battle of the season in this rivalry doesn't mean that the Vols will be able to go on the road to a hostile Rupp Arena and win as slight underdogs Tuesday night.
Kentucky has been wildly inconsistent, but when the Wildcats are playing well, they can compete with and even beat virtually anybody. They showed that in their big upset over the Mountaineers last week.
The Wildcats are also incredibly dominant against Tennessee in Lexington with a 90-16 all-time record in Rupp Arena in this series. Wins for the Vols in this venue are few and far between.
Nagel has evaluated all these circumstances, found a big edge in this line and jumped all over it. He's sharing that pick over at SportsLine.
So what side do you need to be all over in Tennessee vs. Kentucky? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of Tennessee-Kentucky you should back, all from a Nevada-based handicapper who is on a blistering 11-2 run on his picks involving the Wildcats.