College Basketball Best Bets Today | Expert Picks for Thursday, Mar. 7

Temple has a 4-12 record in AAC play but the Owls have managed to win three of the past four and closes losses fill the season record.

The Owls have two overtime losses plus seven other losses by single-digit margins in conference play.

UAB has slipped from 10-4 to 10-6 and this will be a second straight road game for the Blazers after UAB allowed 106 points on Sunday to Memphis.

UAB is just 4-4 S/U in road games in AAC play but the only win of substance on the road was a fortunate overtime win at North Texas in January in a game they trailed nearly the entire way but stole in the end.

Andy Kennedy's team has solid offensive potential, but the Blazers are the bottom five among defensive ratings in the conference.

Home teams have won over 60 percent of AAC games this season and UAB has slipped to sixth place in the conference after momentarily being in contention earlier this season.

Temple may not have great season numbers, but the recent form suggests stronger outcomes moving forward and there are some key areas of advantage for the Owls in the matchup. Temple's offense has a very low turnover rate in contrast to UAB having one of the highest turnover rates in the conference.

Temple has been significantly stronger in 3-point defense as well as UAB has allowed nearly 36 percent from beyond the arc and Temple is a high-volume 3-point shooting team.

These teams have minimal history last playing in 2013 as this will be an unfamiliar setting as UAB makes a late season road trip to Philadelphia.

The Blazers will understandably draw some market support with the much stronger overall record but UAB's best results came early in the season and some of the gap in the standings between these teams can be explained with close-game fortune as Temple should be up for a strong performance in the home finale Thursday.