After losing 20 points on Tuesday night to Alabama, Kentucky desperately needs some victories to keep hopes for the NCAA tournament alive. The Cats are on the road for their next two games, playing in Auburn tomorrow and Georgia on Wednesday, before returning to the Rupp Arena to host LSU on Saturday. What are computer models saying about Kentucky’s next three games? I’m glad you asked.
First, a summary of where Kentucky is ranking 11 games in:
Auburn Tigers
Saturday, January 16, 2:00 pm (Eastern Time), Auburn Arena (Auburn, AL), ESPN
- Registration: 7-6, 1-4 SEC
- NET: 80
- KenPom: 73
- Sagarin: 61
Don’t be fooled by the conference registration from 1 to 4; Auburn is a dangerous team with Sharife Cooper now eligible. The Tigers struck Georgia in Athens on Wednesday and in Cooper’s first game last Saturday, they scored 90 points against Alabama. Cooper has an average of 27 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists and 2.5 steals in two games and will present a big, huge challenge for the Kentucky defense court tomorrow at Auburn Arena.
Sagarin Predictor: Auburn -1
KenPom: Kentucky 71, Auburn 70 (51% chance of winning)
Georgia Bulldogs
Wednesday, January 20, 7 pm ET, Stegemen Coliseum (Athens, GA), SEC Network
- Registration: 7-4, 0-4 SEC
- NET: 110
- KenPom: 95
- Sagarin: 89
Bulldogs are out of conference game wins, losing to the state of Mississippi, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn. They took LSU into overtime at Baton Rouge, which is impressive, but in the next game, they lost to Arkansas by 30. Auburn beat them by 18 on Wednesday.
Predictor Sagarin: Kentucky -2
KenPom: Kentucky 75, Georgia 71 (62% chance of victory)
LSU Tigers
Saturday, January 23, 6 pm, Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY), ESPN
- Record: 9-2, 4-1 SEC
- NET: 18
- KenPom: 22
- Sagarin: 14
The Tigers lost only two games, one in the SEC (83-79 in Florida). Four players are averaging double digits, including Trendon Watford, who had a double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds) in LSU’s 92-76 win against Arkansas on Wednesday. LSU is good, and a victory over the Tigers would be huge for the Kentucky curriculum.
Predictor Sagarin: LSU -4
KenPom: LSU 74, Kentucky 72 (45% chance of winning)
If you’re curious, KenPom currently has Kentucky ending the 11-14 season with a 9-8 conference record. If that happens, it could be a very short March.