One of the best times of the year is finally here, March Madness.
But first, it is time for conference tournaments across the country, with the SEC Tournament heading to Nashville once again.
The Kentucky Wildcats are one of the hottest teams in the country as they head to the Music City. They’re coming off a huge few weeks in which they knocked off Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee all on the road.
Add in a 22-point victory over Alabama, and the Cats have not only cracked the top-10 in the final AP Poll of the regular season, but they have locked down the 2-seed for the SEC Tourney this week.
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Playing as the 2-seed, the Cats picked up the double-bye and will tip off on Friday night at 7 PM EST.
With that in mind, we here at A Sea of Blue wanted to give the BBN a sneak peek at some of the potential matchups coming Kentucky’s way this weekend, as well as all the info you’ll need to watch and follow the Cats’ run in Nashville.
How to watch Kentucky Basketball in the 2024 SEC Tournament
All of this year’s SEC Tournament games will air on either ESPN or the SEC Network. For an online stream, you can utilize WatchESPN and the ESPN app for mobile devices.
Can’t watch the game? Tom Leach and Jack Givens will have the radio call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Below is a bracket and schedule of all the games this week.
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Go here for the DraftKings Sportsbook odds on who will win the SEC Championship, which has Kentucky with the third-best odds at +400, while Tennessee is the favorite at +130. Auburn at +260 and Alabama at +450 are the other top teams.
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Now, let’s look at what a path to the SEC Championship would look like if Kentucky advances to Sunday and plays the highest seed in every round.
Quarterfinal Round
Kentucky could have a revenge game opportunity in the Quarterfinals, as things seem to be shaping up for a matchup with the Aggies in Bridgestone Arena on Friday night.
The two teams faced off once already this season in College Station, which saw the Aggies shoot the lights out, dominate the boards, and pick up an overtime win.
Will that happen again on Friday?
First, the Aggies will have to get through the Ole Miss Rebels, who they just blew out in Oxford on Saturday afternoon. It seems Buzz Williams has his team playing desperately, as they need to win the SEC Tournament to get an NCAA Tournament berth.
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Can they catch fire and knock off the Rebels and Cats on back-to-back nights? It should be a fun one to kick off the BBN’s takeover of Broadway.
Semifinal Round
UK potentially has a revenge game in the Quarterfinals, but if the Cats advance, it could be the Tide’s turn for a revenge game in the Semis.
Nate Oats’ squad got embarrassed in Lexington just a few weeks ago, and ever since, Alabama has been struggling to get rolling. Coming off a close game to Arkansas this past Saturday, their first round matchup will not be a cakewalk in the slightest if Florida picks up the win on Thursday.
If there is any team that I think John Calipari and his team are excited fell to that 3-seed line in the SEC it had to be the Tide. Yes, they are elite offensively, but they struggle mightily on defense. It is the perfect matchup for this Kentucky team and should produce another track meet if the teams meet on Saturday at Bridgestone.
SEC Championship
Likeliest Opponent: Tennessee Volunteers
Date: Sunday, March 17th, 2024
Time: 1 pm ET
TV: ESPN will have TV coverage of the championship game.
Online Stream: WatchESPN and ESPN app
Kentucky Radio: UK Sports Radio Network
Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters:UK | UT
Stats to Know:UK | UT
KenPom: UK | UT
Team Sheet: UK | UT
Last Matchup: Kentucky won 85-81 in Knoxville on March 9th
Other Potential Opponents: Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, LSU, South Carolina, and Auburn
How about a rubber match for the SEC Tournament Championship in Nashville? That’s what we’d be treated to if the Cats and Vols make it to Sunday’s title game.
After Tennessee ran Kentucky off the floor in Rupp Arena, UK got revenge over Rick Barnes and his squad on Saturday in Knoxville. Both teams have proven they are the two best teams in the conference and are likely two of the 10 best teams in the country entering the NCAA Tournament.
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There isn’t much else to say but that this game could go down as another all-time matchup between the two programs as of late. Also, another win over the Vols could potentially help lift the Cats to that 2-seed line, and if nothing else, secure a 3-seed. It won’t be easy, but it would make another major statement.
First things first. Kentucky has to take care of business Friday night and go from there.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (3-2) at Kentucky Wildcats (5-0)
Lexington, Kentucky; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wildcats -22.5; over/under is 164
BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Kentucky takes on Western Kentucky after Koby Brea scored 22 points in Kentucky’s 108-59 win over the Jackson State Tigers.
The Wildcats have gone 4-0 at home. Kentucky is 10th in college basketball averaging 12.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 42.3% from downtown. Brea leads the team averaging 4.0 makes while shooting 74.1% from 3-point range.
The Hilltoppers are 0-1 in road games. Western Kentucky ranks third in the CUSA shooting 37.4% from 3-point range.
Kentucky scores 97.0 points, 24.2 more per game than the 72.8 Western Kentucky allows. Western Kentucky averages 9.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.8 more made shots on average than the 6.0 per game Kentucky gives up.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Brea is shooting 74.1% from beyond the arc with 4.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 16 points.
Julius Thedford averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hilltoppers, scoring 11.4 points while shooting 54.5% from beyond the arc.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Mark Stoops owns a five-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup series. The Wildcats have won three games in a row at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium and have not lost to Louisville at Kroger Field since 2017 when Bobby Petrino was holding the call sheet and and Lamar Jackson was playing quarterback. The Wildcats have also covered a lot of spreads in this series.
Stoops is 7-2-1 against-the-spread (ATS) in this series with with covers as a double-digit dog in 2014 and 2016. Kentucky has beaten Louisville outright as a dog three times since 2016 and has covered five straight in this series. Those are not the only trends going in Kentucky’s direction heading into this Week 14 contest.
Louisville is 0-4-1 ATS as a road favorite under Jeff Brohm with outright losses to Pittsburgh and Stanford. Kentucky is 5-0-1 ATS as a dog in its last six outing including four games this season. Kentucky covered numbers as a double-digit dog against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas this season.
The visitor is 11-3-1 ATS (5-10 outright) in the last 14 meetings of this series with 10 outright wins but Kentucky has won the last two meetings at Kroger Field covering each times as a three-point favorite. In 2019, Kentucky ran away for a 45-13 victory and cruised to a 26-13 victory in 2022.
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Kentucky has consistently overachieved pregame expectations in this series. The Wildcats are currently a 3.5-point dog with a total of 48.5. That’s a projected final score of 26-22.5. Will UK exceed expectations again against Louisville? A win would equal four outright upsets for the Big Blue in the last eight meetings of the series.
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Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers for an in-state battle in Rupp Arena. This is a game that is always fun as it brings different parts of Kentucky together to share in the state’s favorite pastime, which is basketball.
WKU is 3-2 on the season with wins over Lipscomb, Jackson State, and Campbellsville. The Hilltoppers lost to Wichita State and Grand Canyon.
While Kentucky steamrolled Lipscomb, they are a solid team, and Western Kentucky was able to take them down 66-61, so the Wildcats can’t look past this matchup. This shouldn’t be an issue as Coach Pope respects the game and doesn’t let his team look past an opponent.
While WKU is a solid mid-major team, ESPN doesn’t seem to think the Wildcats will have any issue taking down the Hilltoppers, as they give Kentucky a 97.5% chance to win this game.
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The best player for the Hilltoppers is guard Don McHenry, who is averaging 17.2 points per game five games into the season. The 6’2 guard is shooting 32.4% from three on the season, but he lets a lot of them fly, so the Wildcats can let him get hot from deep.
The goal for this Kentucky team when they take on WKU should be to keep working on defense and rebounding while the offense keeps doing what it has been doing all season long. If the Wildcats can keep improving in these two areas, they will be hard to beat come SEC play and March.
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