The SEC really only has three teams which will feel pretty good about itself going into the last week of the regular season. The Florida Gators would be the fourth team in line to get into the dance if the conference gets that many, and a win over the Kentucky Wildcats would probably firmly punch that ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
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SCHEDULING
The Gators looked like locks just a couple weeks ago to dance, but they've since lost three straight times, the worst of which was a home defeat to Vanderbilt. Now all of a sudden, they're just 17-12, and if they lose this game, they're almost certainly going to be a 14-loss team trying to get an at-large bid into the dance.
Live bettors have to question this spot for UF. The Gators have failed to cover their last four at the O-Dome, and though this is the biggest game of their season, Kentucky would love to stick a proverbial dagger on its greatest conference basketball rivals' campaign.
The Wildcats though, are off of a loss as well at Vandy, and they've lost four of their last five on the road.
KEY MATCHUP
We sound like a broken record when it comes to Kentucky, but the key here is frontcourt play. There were only four guys who scored a single point on Saturday against Vandy, and all but nine of those points were scored by backcourt mates Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray.
Skal Labissiere has been one of the greatest disappointments in college hoops this season, while Alex Poythress' confidence is clearly gone. Marcus Lee has played alright, but with Derek Willis still dealing with a nagging ankle injury, the Wildcats are ridiculously thin in the frontcourt.
This is the big drawback of having a team full of NBA players. No one wants to ride the bench. That's why the Wildcats are so thin as it is, and with so many bigs just not playing well, John Calipari is running out of places to turn.
The Gators aren't great in the frontcourt, but they definitely do play some defense down low. John Egbunu, Dorian Finney-Smith, Devin Robinson and Kevarrius Hayes are all very good defenders in the low block, and if the Wildcats can't figure out how to score against those guys, they're going to end up being huge disappointments for live bettors.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
Though Kentucky blew Florida out of the water in the first meeting of the season between these two teams, the Wildcats got a superb effort out of Murray, who knocked down eight threes on 10 attempts. UK didn't really get anything going on the inside at all. Lee scored just four points, and though Willis had 12, half of that came from beyond the arc.
The Gators' two worst defensive games of the NCAAB season have come in successive games. They allowed a total of 183 points to LSU and Vandy, and if their defense plays like that again in this one, live bettors will find them getting blown out for a second time this year by the boys in blue.
Over the course of the last two seasons, Kentucky has dominated this series. The closest the Gators have gotten in four tries is seven points, and they're just barely 1-3 ATS in those games.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device or tablet at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The Kentucky Wildcats and Florida Gators will square off Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Stephen O'Connell Center. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
