Vermont vs Auburn Prediction College Basketball Picks 11/6/24

The Vermont Catamounts and the Auburn Tigers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from the Auburn Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Vermont vs. Auburn prediction.

Vermont Recap

The Vermont Catamounts come into this one fresh off of a 67-62 win over UAB to kick off the season. After this game, Vermont will continue on the road for a matchup against Merrimack.

Catamounts Stifle Blazers For Opening Win

TJ Hurley leads the Catamounts with 20 points on 6 of 12 shooting with a team-high 4 threes while Shamir Bogues has 13 points on 6 of 16 shooting and TJ Long has 10 points with a pair of threes and a pair of steals to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Vermont so far this season. Ileri Ayo-Faleye and Nate Barnett each had a team-high 6 rebounds as well in the winning effort for Vermont. As a team, Vermont is averaging 67 PPG on 37.9% shooting from the field, 37% from three, and 81.3% from the foul line this season.

Why the Vermont Catamounts will win

• Vermont has won each of its last eight games following a road win.

Auburn Recap

Auburn comes in off of a decent 2023-24 campaign where the Tigers finished 27-8 overall including 13-5 in SEC play. 26 of Auburn’s 27 wins would be by double figures, with the exception being their 7-point win in the SEC tournament semifinals over Mississippi State before knocking off Florida in the Championship game to win the SEC tournament. As a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament, Auburn would be upset by Yale, ending their season prematurely. Auburn reloaded after losing Jaylin Williams and Aden Holloway from last year’s team, bringing back Johni Broome (16.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG) as well as Chad Baker-Mazara (10 PPG, 41.8% 3-point percentage) and Denver Jones (9.1 PPG, 41.8% 3-point percentage) in addition to transfers like Miles Kelly (13.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG) from Georgia Tech and JP Pegues (18.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 APG, 36.2% from 3) from Furman. The pieces are all there for Auburn to contend, it’s just a matter of putting in the work and keeping their heads on straight should they make the big dance.

Why the Auburn Tigers will win

• Auburn has won each of its last 54 games against non-conference opponents at Neville Arena.

Vermont vs. Auburn Prediction

I’m on the under here. I was tempted to take Vermont and the points as this Vermont team is no slouch, but Auburn’s tendency to blow teams away last year gave me pause. But I like the under because Vermont plays at a snail’s pace. They like to take the air out of the ball and slow things down (which could bode well for an underdog), and there’s a potential look-ahead for Auburn with a headliner tilt against Houston on deck. On the other side, Auburn was 6th in defensive efficiency last year and the best in the country in effective field goal percentage defense, so teams weren’t getting clean looks and Auburn’s defensive percentages were outstanding. I think this one’s coming in under the number.