The sixth-seeded BYU Cougars will battle the second-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide in an East Region Sweet 16 matchup at the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The Cougars (26-9), who tied for third in the Big 12 Conference at 14-6, are 5-4 against ranked opponents in 2024-25. The Crimson Tide (27-8), who placed third in the Southeastern Conference at 13-5, have won 12 of 19 games against ranked foes.

Tip-off from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., is set for 7:09 p.m. ET. Alabama is a 5.5-point favorite in the latest BYU vs. Alabama odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 175.5. 

Before making any BYU vs. Alabama picks, check out the college basketball predictions from SportsLine expert Josh Nagel.

Nagel has a strong read on college basketball, specifically the BYU Cougars. He is 5-0 (+500) on his last five against-the-spread picks in BYU games. Anyone following him could have seen HUGE returns!

For BYU vs. Alabama, Nagel is leaning Under on the total and he also found a critical X-factor that has has him jumping on one side of the spread. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see these picks before locking in any 2025 NCAA Tournament picks of your own.

So who wins BYU vs. Alabama and which side of the spread should you be hammering? Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from a red-hot college basketball expert that is on a 5-0 (+500) run on his last five BYU hoops picks!