Ohio State heads out to the desert to take on another blue blood of the sport Saturday. Check out our preview and prediction.
Aside from one blip so far, the Ohio State basketball team has gotten off to a fantastic start. There are wins against Cincinnati and Villanova at home, and a blowout win over North Carolina at the Dean Dome. The lone blemish is the loss on the road in The Barn at Minnesota.
Now the Buckeyes are headed out to the desert to take on an athletic and talented Kentucky Squad. The Wildcats have looked inconsistent at times this year, but there’s no doubt they have the horses per usual to beat anyone in the country.
Ohio State has put together quite the resume early on here in the 2019-2020 season, and a neutral court win over SEC and national power Kentucky would only bolster the belief that this team can do damage both during the regular season and beyond.
FINAL: Utah 69, No. 6 Kentucky 66.
John Calipari's Wildcats have only played one top-100 KenPom team this season — but they still have two losses. That’s not good.
Previewing Wednesday’s Utah Utes vs. Kentucky Wildcats betting odds and lines, with NCAA basketball betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Utah Utes (8-2, 0-0 PAC-12) and the Kentucky Wildcats (8-1, 0-0 SEC) tangle on a neutral-site floor at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 11 p.m. ET Wednesday. We analyze the Utah-Kentucky odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.
Utah vs. Kentucky: Three things you need to know
1. Kentucky G Ashton Hagans rolls in with 16.3 points and 8.7 assists per game across his past six outings.
2. Kentucky freshman G Tyrese Maxey is just 4-for-26 from the field across his past three games.
3. The Utes enter this game with a 29-29 record all-time in Las Vegas, while going 8-8 under head coach Larry Krystkowiak.
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Kentucky (-769) is heavily favorited to win, but the ML is too chalky to warrant a wager. A $10 bet on the Wildcats to win outright returns a profit of just $1.30.
UTAH (+11.5, -110) will be able to keep it within single digits, mainly due to the erratic shooting of Maxey. While he has been playing lockdown defense, he has really struggled from the perimeter, and that’s his calling card. Until he gets on track, opponents of the Wildcats (-11.5, -110) will be able to reel them in.
OVER 138.5 (-110) is the play here. Expect Kentucky to snap out of its shooting funk a little bit. The Over is 12-5 in Utah’s past 17 against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better. While it’s all Under all the time for Kentucky, some trends are made to be broken.
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I see Calipari at Notre Dame and immediately have flashbacks to the close-call that was the 2015 Midwest Regional
There was an all-time college sports heel in attendance last night when Notre Dame’s basketball team got back in the win column after beating Detroit Mercy, 110-71.
Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari and his wife made the trip north from Lexington to take in the game, specifically to see their son Brad play and score 12 points for Mercy.
Went up to watch Brad play at Notre Dame last night. Sat w/Digger & his wife, Linda. Digger took me to the Grotto beforehand. Lit candles & prayed for the team & friends. Had to stop & run on the football field like Rudy. And yes, I threw a football 30 yards w/a tight spiral LOL. pic.twitter.com/s5979DgAOX
Calipari and Digger Phelps – I can only imagine those conversations.
I see Calipari at Notre Dame and immediately have flashbacks to the close-call that was the 2015 Midwest Regional final that the Irish lost in the closing seconds despite leading most the night and were that-close to ruining Kentucky’s perfect season.
Instead Wisconsin did so in the Final Four a round later.
Whatever the case at least Notre Dame handled business in a game against an inferior opponent. Hopefully last night breathes some air back into the lungs of a team that has looked largely dead the last week as a good showing against UCLA Saturday would be welcome.
The two big time programs will meet starting in 2020.
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Pack your bags, Michigan fans — you’re headed to London to face a basketball blue blood.
Per a release by the Michigan basketball program, the Wolverines have announced a three-game series with Kentucky, starting in 2020-21, with the first game taking place in the UK capital city. Then, a home-and-home between the two.
Read the whOle press release:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan and the University of Kentucky have signed a three-year men’s basketball deal that will take both teams to London, England, in the 2020-21 season as well as a home-and-home series for the following two campaigns.
The first year of the three-year commitment will feature a neutral-site game at O2 Arena in London in December of 2020. The London game will be hosted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and serve as a fundraiser for the Hall.
This will be the first NCAA Division I college basketball game to be played at O2 Arena, one of the world’s most popular venues. All further details on play date, game time, television partner, ticket pricing, ancillary events and ticket on-sale will be announced in January of 2020.
Following the game in London, Michigan and Kentucky will then play a home-and-home series starting in Ann Arbor at Crisler Center in 2021 followed by a return trip to Lexington and Rupp Arena in 2022.
“When the idea of playing Kentucky came up, we knew it would be an exciting opportunity, not only for ourselves, but for our fans as well,” said U-M coach Juwan Howard. “What a unique three-game series. First, we get to showcase collegiate basketball overseas in London before playing that traditional home-and-home series in front of two of the nation’s best basketball environments. We cannot wait.”
Michigan has traveled out of the United States in the regular season five times previously but will be playing its first game in Europe. All five previous trips have been to the Caribbean, with the most recent trip happening a week ago in Paradise Island, Bahamas, where the Maize and Bluecaptured the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis championship. U-M also appeared in the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2015-16, the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic in 1997-98, the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands in 2002-03, and the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2013-14.
U-M and Kentucky have met on seven occasions with UK holding the 5-2 all-time series advantage. The Wolverines and Wildcats will meet up for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign when Kentucky came away with a victory over U-M in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final.
Prior to the 2014 meeting, the two squads had not met since the 1992-93 season, when Howard and the Wolverines defeated Kentucky in the Final Four in New Orleans.
Michigan and Kentucky will meet each other in on-campus contests for the first time since 1970, as UK will make just its second-ever trip to Ann Arbor in 2021 and U-M will travel to Lexington for the fourth time in the history of the two programs.
Michigan is 0-1 in Ann Arbor and 1-2 in Lexington against the Wildcats.
Previewing Saturday’s Louisville Cardinals at Kentucky Wildcats sports betting odds and lines, with college football betting picks and tips.
The Louisville Cardinals (7-4, 5-3 ACC) hook up with the Kentucky Wildcats (6-5, 3-5 SEC) in Week 14 of the college football season. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 12 p.m. ET at Kroger Field in Lexington, KY. We analyze the Louisville-Kentucky odds and betting lines, while providing college football betting tips and advice on this matchup.
Louisville at Kentucky: Three things you need to know
Kentucky leads the all-time head-to-head series 16-15. The Wildcats won last year’s meeting 56-10 in Louisville on Nov. 24. The Wildcats are looking to cap off their fourth straight winning season and keep the Governor’s Cup in Lexington.
Wildcats WR-turned-QB Lynn Bowden Jr. has completed 46.7% of his pass attempts for 326 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions through six starts. He has 951 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns on the season along with 348 yards and a touchdown as a receiver. Kentucky is 4-2 with him under center.
Cardinals QB Micale Cunningham has completed 62.1% of his passes for 1,708 yards with 19 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He has added 374 yards and six touchdowns as a rusher.
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Louisville at Kentucky: Odds, betting lines and picks
Louisville enters the week with back-to-back wins, 56-34 over Syracuse and 34-20 over NC State. Kentucky has also won two straight, 50-7 over TN-Martin and 38-14 against Vanderbilt. The Wildcats are 5-2 in Lexington while the Cardinals are 3-2 on the road.
Kentucky (-161) is the favorite at home to retain the Governor’s Cup and clinch the winning season, but LOUISVILLE (+135) is getting too much value to be ignored. The Cardinals have the edge in the quarterback battle and will come away with the road victory.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Cardinals to win outright returns a profit of $13.50.
Kentucky is 8-3 against the spread and covers the line by an average of 4.2 points per game. Louisville is 7-4 ATS overall and covers by an average of 3.4 points per game, but slips to 2-2 ATS on the road while falling an average of 0.9 points shy of the cover.
While liking Louisville for the outright win, the safe play is backing CARDINALS (+3.5, -115) to keep this one within a field goal in the event of a loss. The same $10 bet on Louisville returns a profit of $8.70 should it lose by three or fewer points or win outright.
Take the OVER 52.5 (-115) in a final-week shootout. Louisville is 6-5 against the Over/Under and tops the projections by an average of 10.1 PPG. The last five head-to-head meetings each topped this number with ease.
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While Josh Allen may not be getting the respect he deserves in the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation, he’s been a hit on the Pro Bowl ballot. In fact, the Jacksonville Jaguars revealed that the rookie is currently second in terms of total …
While Josh Allen may not be getting the respect he deserves in the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation, he’s been a hit on the Pro Bowl ballot. In fact, the Jacksonville Jaguars revealed that the rookie is currently second in terms of total fan votes for the AFC at the defensive end position.
.@JoshAllen41_ has the 2nd most Pro Bowl fan votes for DEs in the AFC.
Allen’s success on the Pro Bowl ballot comes after the rookie has put together a solid rookie campaign, accumulating 27 tackles, nine tackles for loss and eight sacks. Despite just having four starts to his name, his eight sacks are good for the most on the Jags’ roster, which is saying a lot as he plays alongside Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue. That figure is also good for the most of any rookie, even Nick Bosa who is the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and has twice as many starts.
Allen was a player the Jags weren’t expecting to be available for the No. 7 overall pick in April’s draft, so when he fell to them it was an easy decision. With the team planning to get him even more involved, it’s possible he’ll continue to garner the support of Pro Bowl voters as his increased snaps could lead to more production.
Previewing Monday’s Utah Valley Wolverines at Kentucky Wildcats sports betting odds and lines, with college basketball analysis and picks.
The Utah Valley Wolverines (3-1) head east to face the Kentucky Wildcats (2-1) at Rupp Arena Monday at 7 p.m. ET. We analyze the Utah Valley-Kentucky odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.
Utah Valley at Kentucky: Three things you need to know
1. Not many expected Utah Valley would have a win more recently than Kentucky, but the Wildcats were tripped up by Evansville last time out by a 67-64 score as 24.5-point favorites.
2. Kentucky’s offense has been sluggish, averaging just 74.7 points per game (PPG), and they’re 334th on 3-pointers at just 24.5 percent from behind the arc.
3. G Ashton Hagans (leg) is a question mark for Monday’s game against the Wolverines.
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Utah Valley at Kentucky: Odds, betting lines and picks
There is no moneyline for this game at the time of publishing due to the large spread, but even if one were to be released by tip-off, the risk is not worth the meager reward.
KENTUCKY (-24.5, -115) had cashed in nine straight games against the spread before its loss to the Purple Aces last time out. The Wildcats are also 5-2 ATS in the past seven at Rupp Arena.
Utah Valley (+24.5, -105) is just 1-5 ATS in the past six games overall, and 2-5 ATS in the past seven non-conference tilts. The Wolverines have three wins, but they haven’t faced a team remotely close to the caliber of Big Blue.
The UNDER 136.5 (-121) is the play. Kentucky is still working out the kinks on offense, and should do just that against the Wolverines. However, UVU won’t contribute much to the total in this game where it’ll be quite overwhelmed. Look for freshman G Tyrese Maxey to show out in this one.
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Check out Draft Wire’s exclusive interview with Kentucky edge defender Jamar “Boogie” Watson
Last year, the NFL draft featured a talented edge rusher by the name of Josh Allen. In 2020, another pass-rushing Wildcat could make waves at the next level.
A versatile prospect who can get after opposing quarterbacks and shut down ball-carriers in the backfield, Watson recently spoke exclusively with Draft Wire about the skill set he brings to the table, how playing at Kentucky has prepared him for the next level, and what fans can expect from him the rest of this season.
JM: How would you describe your skill set?
JBW: I’m a very athletic edge rusher. I can play off the edge as a rusher and I can drop in coverage a little bit as well. I’m a savvy player and I have a high football I.Q. as well.
JM: What’s your favorite part about playing linebacker?
JBW: I love having the ability to effect the game on a snap-by-snap basis. I play in the middle of the defense and we get to be involved on every single play. I have a role to play on every single defensive snap. I love that. That gives me a chance to be a high impact player.
JM: I heard that you’re a tap dancer. How did you get into that?
JBW: My high school basketball coach recommended that I get into tap dancing. I needed an extra credit and it was a pretty easy class, if I’m being honest (laughs). I gave it a shot and I’ve actually kept it going since high school. I really ended up liking it.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
JM: Your dream job outside of being an NFL player is to become a police offer. Why is that?
JBW: It started off with me watching lots of law enforcement shows. Those were my favorite types of shows growing up.CSI, Law & Order, shows like that. As I got older, my interest in law enforcement became more serious and I started doing some research. If I wasn’t playing football, that would be my dream career. That’s what I’m studying right now in school. That’s my top desire aside from football. My goal is to play in the NFL, first and foremost, but a career as an officer of the law after football definitely intrigues me.
JM: What’s your favorite cop show of all time?
JBW: That’s a great question. If I had to go all time, I would probably say “Person of Interest.” It’s on Netflix now, and it has about five seasons. It’s about this I.T. nerd guy who has the ability to predict future crimes and he has this badass friend who’s the muscle of the group. He sends him out on these missions to stop these crimes before they happen. That’s probably my favorite show of all time.
JM: Who do you think is the best NCAA player you’ve ever gone up against?
JBW: I would probably go with Sony Michel or Deebo Samuel. Those guys stood out for obvious reasons. I can’t forget about Lamar Jackson. He’s as dynamic as they come. Those are definitely my top three.
JM: Is there an NFL running back or tight end you’re looking forward to tackling or covering?
JBW: I would probably say Ezekiel Elliott. He’s received so much publicity over the last couple of years. He’s a superstar running back and I’d love to test out my abilities against a guy like that.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
JM: Coach Brad White did a great job with Josh Allen last year. He also has six years NFL experience with the Indianapolis Colts. How has he helped elevate your game?
JBW: He’s definitely taken my game to another level. He has an incredible feel for the game. He understands the role of a linebacker well beyond pass rushing. He’s helped me in every faucet of my game. His attention to detail is tremendous. It’s the small things that he’s taught me that helped me become a better player. He’s really made a difference in my life. Josh Allen will tell you himself, we as a linebacker group give a ton of credit to coach White. He puts a huge emphasis on having us reach for the ball. Try to strip it out and create turnovers. It’s the small technique stuff that he’s really helped me out a lot.
JM: How has Kentucky helped prepare you for what’s next?
JBW: The weight staff is one of the best in the country. We have some veteran guys around this program. The coaching staff has a ton of experience. The training staff is top notch as well. They keep us right throughout the summer and throughout the season as well. Our coaches have had success at multiple levels. Having these guys at my disposal has been huge for me.
JM: What can Kentucky fans expect from you for the rest of this season?
JBW: They can expect me to be continue being a productive member of this defense. My team needs me to be productive. I’m working hard to improve every single day. I’m definitely focused and locked in right now.
No. 1 Kentucky was stunned on its home floor by Evansville on Tuesday.
For the first time in program history, Evansville toppled a AP-ranked team on the road. That team happened to be the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats, a favorite to win the national championship at the end of the season.
Last season, the Purple Aces won just 11 games, and were picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference this year. Evansville didn’t catch fire from the floor – the Purple Aces shot 38 percent from the field – or win on a fluke buzzer-beater, they outworked the top-ranked team in the nation and played excellent defense at Rupp Arena to pull off a historic upset. For Kentucky, it was the first time the Wildcats had ever lost at home as a No. 1 team to a non-conference opponent, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
College basketball fans roasted Kentucky online, and Indiana fans at Assembly Hall chanted “Evansville” during the Hoosiers’ blowout win on Tuesday.
