The Classic SEC is on a roll in men's basketball, with Auburn, Alabama, and Florida all ranked in the AP top 3. Here's how Ken Pom sees the league:
1. Auburn: 21-2
4. Tennessee: 20-4
5. Florida: 20-3
6. Alabama: 20-3
19. Mississippi: 18-6
22. Kentucky: 16-7
31. Mississippi St: 17-6
38. Georgia: 16-8
48. Vanderbilt: 17-6
81. Louisiana St: 12-11
UK has a home win over Florida and a road win over Tennessee, but their losses at Vandy and Georgia are really hurting them. Today the Cats host Tennessee, and to me this game feels like the key to their season. If they could win this game, they would sweep the Vols and establish themselves as a serious threat to almost anyone they play. But if they lose, they will likely fall out of the AP top 20 (they are currently 15), and will be at risk of terrible seeding in both the SEC and NCAA Tournament. The rest of their schedule is brutal (AP rankings in parentheses):
2/11: (5) TENNESSEE
2/15: at Texas
2/19: VANDERBILT
2/22: (2) at Alabama
2/26: at Oklahoma
3/1: (1) AUBURN
3/4: LOUISIANA ST.
3/8: (21) at Missouri
Remember, they have to win at least four of these games to finish 9-9 in conference play. Assuming they beat Vandy and LSU at home, that means that they must either beat Texas or Oklahoma on the road, or beat a team that is currently ranked.
K-Pom gives UK a 41 percent chance tonight against the Vols. He likes You Tee by the score of 74 to 72. But to be fair, he thought the Vols were going to win in Knoxville a few weeks ago.
UK and UT is the top game of the night, according to Ken Pom, with a "Thrill Score" of 85.0. That's a very high score for a regular season game.
ReplyDeleteKen Pom got the thrill part right.
ReplyDeleteHuge, huge win for the Cats. Great performances by Travis Perry (Ken Pom gave him an offensive rating of 131) and Trent Noah (offensive rating of 211!).
ReplyDeleteTennessee led 58-55 with 6:32 left in the game. At that point, K-Pom gave UK a 29 percent chance of victory. From there to the end, the Cats outscored You Tee 20 to 6. It's hard to think of another recent big game where UK ended on that type of run.
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