Temple has covered seven of nine, including winning its past two outright as underdogs to SMU and Cincinnati. Memphis needs this one for its NCAA Tournament chances, and the Tigers have won three straight at home by double digits. But I like the Owls to be competitive, thanks to their stout defense and the emergence of true freshman Zach Hicks (40 percent 3-point shooting over the last nine games). Take the points.

Memphis is 10-2 at home, and the Tigers come off a three-game road trip, winning and covering the first two and then getting blown out at SMU while laying -2. Temple just beat SMU and then went to Cincinnati on Sunday and won while getting +7.5. The already good Temple defense has been elevated, and now the Owls are only a half-game behind third-place Memphis in the AAC. I’m on Temple to cover.

The Owls have been very impressive this season. Even though they lost their top scorer, Khalif Battle, just seven game into the season, they are still 15-9 SU and ATS this season. The Owls are 7-2 ATS in their last nine games, including 5-2 ATS on the road. The Tigers have been playing great as of late, but are they good enough to be favored by this many points? I don’t think so. The Owls will be able to keep this game close enough to cover this large spread.