Missouri Will Take Down Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Missouri, 12:00 ET

I really enjoy college basketball and part of me is a bit sad to see the regular season come to an end. I suppose all good things must come to an end, but we also have something really exciting coming on the horizon. Next week we have the conference tournaments, then the following week, we have the NCAA Tournament, and then we get baseball. There are a lot of reasons to be excited and one of them is the game that happens today. Kentucky is taking on Missouri in an SEC challenge. 

Kentucky started the season as the 23rd ranked team in the nation, and though they have moved up, they are still at just 19th in the nation now. After John Calipari left the team, I suppose they are meeting the expectations. It isn't like Kentucky wouldn't have a good program, but it was fair to question how this season would go without him. The team is 20-10 but they are currently sitting at 8th in the SEC. While there are certainly some bad losses on the schedule from Kentucky, they have some impressive wins as well. For example, the Wildcats beat Duke, one of just a couple of teams to do that this year. The eight losses in the SEC have come at the hands of Georgia, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas, Alabama, and Auburn. That has been a mixture of both home and road games. The impressive wins against SEC opponents have come against Tennessee twice, Florida, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M. More than anything I feel like the Wildcats are about matchups more than anything. Certain teams will just be hard for them to beat, but others they manage very well against. 

Nov 9, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks with forward Brandon Garrison (10) during the second half against the Bucknell Bison at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Missouri probably does not carry the same name recognition or program luster that Kentucky does, but this season has been very impressive. Missouri is 21-9 this season and they are currently fifth in the SEC. This is the best conference in the country and Missouri is more than holding their own. To start the year, they dropped a game against Memphis, but were able to win 10 straight after that, including a win over #1 at the time, Kansas. They've lost seven times in SEC games, dropping games to Auburn, Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma. Those last two teams were also their last two games. They dropped the game to Vanderbilt in overtime, and they fell to Oklahoma by 12. In terms of impressive wins, they beat Florida, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Alabama. Looking at them at home this season, the Tigers have only lost one home game against an SEC opponent this season and that loss was by just three points.

This game should be a pretty close one, but I expect Missouri to pull away late in the game. I am not really confident in the total one way or another as I think Kentucky might struggle to score, but still can play good defense. Missouri should get the boost of being on their home floor as well. I'm going to take them to cover the spread today. 

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