SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun

The most widely hyped college basketball game of the weekend pits unbeaten Memphis against Tennessee in a clash of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation.

Or does it?

Sure, the Tigers and the Volunteers, who meet at 6 p.m. Saturday, are ranked 1-2 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.

It does not necessarily follow that they are the top two teams in college basketball — at least from a betting outlook.

In the oddsmakers’ top 30 poll, released this week by Las Vegas Sports Consultants, Memphis is ranked No. 4 and Tennessee No. 6. Kansas and UCLA held on to the top two spots in the LVSC poll, based on the oddsmakers’ power ratings.

Memphis dropped from third to fourth in the poll after a week in which the Tigers barely got past Alabama-Birmingham, winning 79-78 as an 8½-point favorite.

North Carolina, No. 3 according to the AP and Las Vegas Sports Consultants, moved up a notch in the oddsmakers’ poll on the strength of a 92-53 thumping of Virginia Tech as a 13-point favorite.

Drake, 23-3 overall and leading the Missouri Valley Conference at 14-2 at midweek, has been showing up on the sports highlight shows more frequently, becoming an underdog darling at No. 16 in the AP poll and perhaps a trendy pick heading into postseason play.

The Bulldogs, however, have not impressed the LVSC oddsmakers, who dropped them from No. 29 into the ignominious “others receiving votes” category.

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