How to watch and game thread: Tennessee vs. Alabama

Welcome to SEC play. The 14th ranked Tennessee Volunteers will begin their pursuit of a regular season SEC title tonight, making a big road trip down to Tuscaloosa to play the 19th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

Tennessee is 9-2 after non-conference play, coming off of a huge win over previously undefeated Arizona. Alabama is suddenly struggling, coming off of an upset loss to Davidson. In the week before that, Alabama was upset by Memphis on the road. On the flipside, just one week before that, Alabama toppled Gonzaga and Houston.

Before the upsets, Alabama climbed as high as No. 6 in the AP poll. KenPom currently has them ranked 19th, bringing the 9th best offense in the country to the table. They’ll face KenPom’s 2nd ranked defense tonight against Tennessee.

The Crimson Tide have all the pieces to be an elite team, led by veteran guards Jaden Shackelford, Keon Ellis and Jahvon Quinerly. Five-star freshman guard JD Davison is also in the mix.

As we’ve seen since Nate Oats arrived, Alabama is going to live and die by the three. They’re currently sixth in the NCAA in three-pointers attempted, averaging 30 per game. As always against the Tide, Tennessee’s perimeter defense will be a huge key tonight.

Alabama won both meetings with Tennessee last season. The Crimson Tide, playing at home tonight, are 3.5 point favorites per DraftKings Sportsbook.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See DraftKings.com/sportsbook for details.

UPDATE: Kennedy Chandler and John Fulkerson are OUT after testing positive for COVID.

How to watch

Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV Channel: ESPN2

Streaming: Watch ESPN

Radio: Vol Network