Memphis Tigers vs Clemson Tigers Prediction, Odds & Picks

On By Littum

The Memphis Tigers visit Littlejohn Coliseum to face the #16 ranked Clemson Tigers on Saturday morning. Memphis had a great start to the season with a 6-0 start headlined by an overtime win over Connecticut in Maui, but they have since struggled. Getting swept by Louisiana Tech and losing outright to Arkansas State wasn’t necessarily an inspiring effort. As for Clemson, they had a blip early in the year in a tough road loss to Boise State, but they have no blemishes outside of that and have wins over San Francisco, Penn State and #5 ranked Kentucky. This will be the first game to tip a massive Saturday slate and should be a fun contest.

The Memphis Tigers have been a tough team to read during coach Penny Hardaway’s tenure. Hardaway has consistently brought top-level talent to his program, whether through the transfer portal or by grabbing 4- and 5-star Freshmen, but they have struggled to play consistently great basketball. Memphis will look great against the top teams in the country, but will struggle to break away from mid-major competition, hence their performances against Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State. But after the double digit loss, we have to expect Memphis to be completely focused.

It starts with Tyrese Hunter and PJ Haggerty’s backcourt for Memphis. Both guards shoot over 44% from 3 and can lead their team to a win in any building. Memphis also has the frontcourt talent to keep pace with Clemson in Dain Dainja, Moussa Cisse and Nick Jourdain, and that’s key for a team that relies on its post-up play and interior presence of Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lahkin.

This game could get out of hand early if we get the bad version of Memphis, but playing the upside of this team looks like the way to go. Memphis is always a living underdog with their top class talent, so instead of betting them plus the points, I’ll go with the money line. Taking the points is also fine because Clemson seems a bit overrated, but maximizing the upside of Memphis is the move for me.

Memphis +235 ML at time of release, playable at that number