The 2025-26 college basketball regular season has come to an end. This year and this team has been a roller coaster of emotions to say the least. This team has given us some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows. There has been last-second buzzer-beaters, as well as, 20+ point losses. The one thing that remains the same is the fact that it is now March Madness and Kentucky is looking to once again attempt to get back on top of the college basketball world by winning in the postseason, and we’re all here rooting for them.
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, Kentucky still has to take on the gauntlet that is the SEC Tournament. The Wildcats’ first matchup comes at 12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT today against the (16) LSU Tigers. If you think back to mid January, Kentucky had to rely on a last-second shot by Malachi Moreno just to win in Baton Rouge, ending with a final score of 75-74.
What a moment that was.
If you remember correctly, a loss that night would’ve sent Kentucky to 10-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play to a bad 0-3 (SEC) LSU team. But thankfully, due to the ‘Malachi Miracle’, it did not.
On Tuesday, Mark Pope addressed the media and previewed the trip back to Nashville for the third time this season.
When asked about how the team is feeling going into the SEC Tournament, Mark Pope said, “We are heading down to Nashville to win… We can’t wait to get to it.”
This mindset is a welcomed change for most as towards the end of John Calipari’s tenure at Kentucky it seemed as though the head coach didn’t put much emphasis on the conference tournament and what it meant to the fans. With that being said, with the struggles this Kentucky team has had in SEC play, they will have a lot to prove to the Big Blue Nation this week to start backing up that winning mindset.
Nashville has not been very kind to the Wildcats this season. Kentucky lost to Gonzaga with a final score of 94-59 during non-conference play earlier in the season. During conference play, the Wildcats traveled to Nashville to play at Vanderbilt where they had another 20+ loss with the final score coming to 80-55. If you want to add to that drought, the ended last year’s SEC Tournament run with a 99-70 thumping by Alabama in the Quarterfinals. So their last three outings in that city have them (two different UK teams) being outscored by 89 points, 273-184.
The unfortunate part is that Kentucky will have a long path to the SEC Championship as they are playing a game on Wednesday for the first time in history. If they want to win the conference tournament, they’ll have to win 5 games in five days — quite the task.
The Wildcats had the opportunity to practice in Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday but for some reason Kentucky declined and chose to practice in the Joe Craft Center (Lexington) instead. Pope pinpointed it to being able to schedule practice at the same time here that the game would be played at on Wednesday, insisting that it was better for the team versus getting shots up in the actual arena they will be playing in…
Flashing forward to Tuesday night, the SEC’s Initial Report was published as both teams will have players not available. LSU will be without Robert Miller, Jalen Reed, and Dedan Thomas, while Kentucky will be without the same three as usual.
One thing to note is that Kentucky’s Kam Williams has been upgraded to ‘Probable’, as well as, Brandon Garrison has been downgraded to ‘Probable’.
Mark Pope has made many statements recently that Kam has been making significant progress and could see the floor soon, so there is a real chance that we could have a Kam Wiliams sighting in today’s matchup to ease him back into the lineup prior to the Big Dance.
Some keys to victory tomorrow for Kentucky:
First off, LSU is not a good defensive team as they give up over 78 points a game. They also allow their opponents to shoot nearly 51% from the field. Kentucky just has to take advantage when they get open looks and make LSU pay for it. They need to get their stars good looks and be the tone setter from the start. Let Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen cook while Collin Chandler and others contribute efficiently.
Lastly, along with being a not so good defensive team, they (LSU) are also not good at defensive rebounding. This could also go in Kentucky’s favor if they can attack the glass and get more possessions for themselves. The bigs need to box out, put their ass on someone when the ball goes up, and fight aggressively for each rebound. Winning these battles helps Kentucky turn a missed shot into another chance and that’s an extremely important advantage to have if the bigs can just put in the effort to fight for them.
The game will be broadcasted on the SEC Network at 12:30 PM ET, however, if you can’t watch it due to work you can also follow along with the radio broadcast with Tom Leach and Jack Givens on the UK Sports Radio Network. If you are in Nashville, of course you will probably be there, but tipoff is at 11:30 AM CT.
According to Draftkings Sportsbook, they have Kentucky as a 7.5 point favorite for today’s rematch against the Tigers and even though it is not at Rupp Arena, if you know Big Blue Nation you know it will still be a home game for the Wildcats.
I have Kentucky winning this one and covering the spread with the final being 84-76. What are your thoughts about today’s matchup? Leave your score predictions in the comments.
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