West Virginia vs Auburn Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for January 28 (Mountaineers Outlast Tigers in SEC/Big 12 Tilt)

West Virginia vs Auburn Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
• West Virginia (12-8) vs. No. 15 Auburn (16-4)
• Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
• Time: 12:00 PM ET
• Venue: WVU Coliseum -- Morgantown, Indiana

Saturday, Jan. 28's NCAA college basketball schedule features an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup between the West Virginia Mountaineers and No. 15 Auburn Tigers.

West Virginia has won two of its last three games, having picked up a 76-61 victory over Texas Tech on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Auburn looks to bounce back after a 79-63 loss to Texas A&M ended the Tigers' winning streak at five games.

Can West Virginia continue its winning ways in front of a rowdy WVU Coliseum crowd? Or will Auburn pull off the upset?

West Virginia vs Auburn Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: WVU: (-176) | AUBURN: (+146)
• Spread: WVU: -3.5 (-120) | AUBURN: +3.5 (-102)
• Total: 142.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

West Virginia enters this contest as the clear home favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 12 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 142.5 points with both sides set at -110.

West Virginia vs Auburn Betting Trends

• West Virginia's record against the spread is 10-9-0.
• As 3.5-point favorites or more, the Mountaineers are 5-2 against the spread.
• West Virginia has played 19 games this year, and 12 of them have gone over the total.
• Auburn has nine wins in 20 games against the spread this year.
• Out of Auburn's 20 games so far this year, 12 have gone over the total.

West Virginia Rank	West Virginia AVG		Auburn AVG	Auburn Rank
62nd	77	Points Scored	72.2	164th
167th	68.8	Points Allowed	63.4	35th
189th	32	Rebounds	34.2	75th
73rd	10	Off. Rebounds	10.5	48th
221st	7.1	3pt Made	6.1	305th
186th	13.2	Assists	14.4	95th
216th	12.5	Turnovers	12.6	226th

West Virginia vs Auburn Prediction & Pick

Though Auburn is the higher-ranked team, that's mostly due to an easier schedule. The Tigers have been far from perfect this season, especially on offense. They're only shooting 44.1% from the floor (No. 173) and 29.4% from three-point range (No. 341), also turning the ball over on 18.7% of offensive possessions (No. 221).

Meanwhile, West Virginia has a 46.1 FG% (No. 65) and also hits 34.7% of its three-point attempts (No. 132). The Mountaineers also hold opponents to just 67.5 PPG with a plus-10.3 scoring margin at home, which could be an issue for a Tigers team that's been held to fewer than 70 points in three of their last four games.

West Virginia is better than its record implies and the Mountaineers will prove that with a victory over the Tigers.

Final Score Prediction: West Virginia: 74 | Auburn: 70

West Virginia vs Auburn Best Bet

Although I'm siding with West Virginia to win, I have my doubts about the Mountaineers' ability to cover the 3.5-point spread. After all, they've failed to do so in seven of their last 10 games. Furthermore, they're also 2-15 ATS in their last 17 games against SEC opponents.

On the flip side, Auburn is 4-2 ATS in its last six games and has covered the spread in four of its six road games this far. Considering how the Tigers are also a top-25 school for a reason, I could see them keeping things closer than the odds imply.

Bet: Auburn +3.5 (-102)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.