A few years ago, the folks at the University of Kentucky decided to destroy their basketball program, and they are now well on their way to accomplishing that goal. But college basketball continues, and (unless you're a Kentucky fan) it looks like we're in for a great season. Today the Dukies went into East Lansing and beat Michigan State -- as they pretty much always do. (Izzo is 3-14 against the Dukies). That 66-60 defeat was Sparty's first of the year, and they drop to 11th on Ken Pom. Duke is at Number 4. (UK is now down to 20, so they still have a long way to fall before they reach their proper level).
Now we have a game from Indianapolis, where U of L is pounding Indiana 13-0. It's a nice bounce back for the Cardinals, who lost at Arkansas earlier in the week. It's worrying for the Hoosiers, who had been 7-0 before they lost at Minnesota on Wednesday night. On the whole, it seems likely that we'll see a lot of long faces when IU rolls into Lexington next Saturday.
Meanwhile, Western Kentucky is 5-2 after their trip to the Bahamas, and they will be playing the Evansville Purple Aces in Bowling Green today in the Battle of Eric. That game tips off at 3 P.M. Central, apparently because the Hilltoppers want to make certain that only folks willing to miss the SEC Football Championship will watch.
And that brings us to the main business of the day, deciding the remaining Conference Championships in football. So far, in the Big XII, Texas Tech is beating BYU 31-7 with seven minutes. That would be a huge outcome for Alabama, who would probably need to win the SEC Championship to make the playoffs if BYU gets an automatic bid by beating Texas Tech.
The SEC Championship kicks off at 3 P.M. Central, followed by the Big Ten Championship (Ohio State v. IU) at 7 P.M. Central. That game is also in Indianapolis, and it occurs to me that there must be a lot of IU fans at the basketball game who have tickets for the showdown with the Buckeyes tonight. I'd like to say that I'll feel bad for IU fans if they get swept by U of L and OSU, but knowing me I probably won't. For the record, OSU leads its series with IU 80-12-5, and the Buckeyes have beaten Indiana fourteen times in a row.
Alabama leads the all-time series with Georgia 45-26-4. Since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, this has been one of the most intense rivalries in America. Alabama has won 10 of the last 11, but most of them have been very close, and Georgia got a huge win to capture the 2021 National Championship.
(Home teams listed first unless otherwise noted):
09/22/07: Alabama 23 - 26 Georgia
09/27/08: Georgia 30 - 41 Alabama
12/01/12: Alabama 32 - 28 Georgia (Atlanta) (SEC Championship Game)
10/03/15: Georgia 10 - 38 Alabama
01/08/18: Georgia 23 - 26 Alabama (OT) (Atlanta) (NCAA Championship Game)
12/01/18: Alabama 35 - 28 Georgia (SEC Championship Game)
10/17/20: Alabama 41 - 24 Georgia
12/04/21: Georgia 24 - 41 Alabama (Atlanta) (SEC Championship Game)
01/10/22: Alabama 18 - 33 Georgia (Indianapolis, Ind.) (NCAA Championship Game)
12/02/23: Alabama 27 - 24 Georgia (Atlanta) (SEC Championship Game)
09/28/24: Alabama 41 - 34 Georgia
09/27/25: Georgia 21 - 24 Alabama
Alabama won the National Championship in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2020. Georgia won the National Championship in 2021 and 2022. But the last two titles have gone to Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2024).
Vegas likes Georgia to win by 2 1/2 points with a total over/under of 48 1/2. That would work out to something like a 26-23 win for the Dawgs.
Vegas likes Ohio State to win by 4 with a total over/under of 46 1/2. That would work out to something like a 25-21 win for the Buckeyes. Personally, I will be stunned if the Hoosiers are within 10 points of OSU when this game ends.
One final point. Today, in West Lafayette, the Purdue Boilermakers (who had been ranked Number One in Men's Basketball by the AP), were CRUSHED 81-58 by the Iowa State Cyclones, who are coached by T.J. Otzelberger. The Cyclones are now 9-0, with wins over St. John's and Purdue, and they are ranked number two on Ken Pom.
