Betting College Basketball's Biggest Games: No. 1 Tennessee at No. 5 Kentucky

Saturday's SEC showdown between No. 1 Tennessee (23-1) and No. 5 Kentucky (20-4) will be one of the most watched games of the college basketball season. Tremendous front court play will be on display when the two SEC heavyweights bang the boards with ESPN broadcasting the action starting at 8:00pm ET from Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. No Rupp Arena for the SEC's biggest game, as the old barn will host the hoops heavyweight match-up and ESPN's College GameDay show will cover the action.

The game will also draw significant betting action as Kentucky tries to snap Tennessee's 19-game winning streak. Kentucky opened as a 2-point favorite late Friday afternoon and both the Westgate SuperBook and Wynn Las Vegas moved Kentucky to -3 while William Hill and key offshore sportsbooks BookMaker and 5Dimes have Kentucky favored by 2.5 points.

Betting Line: Kentucky -3  Total 146

With seven regular season games remaining in conference play, the SEC title will be decided between Tennessee (11-0), LSU (10-1) and Kentucky (9-2). Tennessee and Kentucky play two of the next three Saturdays's and Tennessee also travels to LSU next Saturday, Feb. 23. Kentucky just lost their first home game of the season on Feb. 12 when LSU's Kavell Bigby-Williams tipped in a missed shot for the game-winning basket at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 73-71 win as 8.5-point underdogs. 

Those kind of finishes spark the added interest in late season college basketball as teams push towards conference championships and post season play with the NCAA Tournament the biggest betting event and most watched tournament of the year.

Saturday's matchup with No. 1 @Vol_Hoops will mark the 20th meeting when they're both ranked in the AP Top 25. UK leads 11-8 overall and 9-1 at home.

It will be the first meeting between the teams when they're both ranked inside the top five in the history of the series. #UTvsUK pic.twitter.com/5y0JzfvtAP

— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 13, 2019

Is this the year Tennessee makes their first-ever Final Four appearance? It may be their best chance under head coach Rick Barnes, as he has an experienced and cohesive core than can score with balance inside and out. The Volunteers have been to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament once, while Kentucky has made 17 Final Four appearances and won eight national titles.

Kentucky has also won the last four SEC Tournament titles. Tennessee won last year at Kentucky for the first time in 11 seasons, and the Volunteers now play their first ranked opponent since they beat Gonzaga in early December. The Zags were No. 1 at the time. 

Plenty of impact players on the court in Saturday's SEC showdown with the match-up between Kentucky's P.J. Washington and Tennessee's reigning SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams the most anticipated of the SEC season.

P.J. Washington: 14.4 PPG, 51.5 FG%, 43.1 3PT%, 8.1 REB, 1.1 BLK

Grant Williams: 19.4 PPG, 57.9% FG, 7.4 REB, 1.5 BLK

The Tennessee Volunteers have five double-digit scorers with Williams joined by senior Admiral Schofield (16.7 PPG) to provide power and proficiency in the paint. Point guard Jordan Bone (13.2 PPG) and guards Lamonte Turner (11.7 PPG) and Jordan Bowdan (11.2 PPG) add perimeter pop. Forward Kyler Alexander (8.5 PPG) is the teams No. 2 rebounder with 6.9 per game. All six players are upperclassmen and their strong chemistry has shown throughout the season with great consistency and cohesion in their play.

Kentucky leads the SEC in rebounding thanks to Washington and Reid Travis (11.6 PPG), the Standford transfer who pulls down 7.0 rebounds per game. Guards Keldon Johnson (14.1 PPG) and Tyler Hero (13.3 PPG) are key perimeter shooters, but Kentucky's overall weakness is shooting efficiency and turnovers. Point guard Ashton Hagans (7.2 PPG) is No. 7 in the SEC in assists, but will be responsible for slowing the penetration and distribution of Tennessee's Jordan Boone; the league-leader in assists and No. 2 in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Tennessee's offense ranks No. 2 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency according to kenpom.com, and the Volunteers are top-7 in the country in effective field goal percentage, 2-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage.  Kentucky counters with the No. 7 adjusted efficiency defense and top rebounding team in the league. Tennessee averages 85.4 points per game to rank No. 5 in the country and 51.5% FG leads the SEC. Kentucky is No. 2 in the league in field goal shooting at 47.5% and averages 78.4 points per game and ranks No. 18 in the country adjusted efficiency offense. Tennessee is also tied for the league-lead in free throw shooting at 78.7% while Kentucky has taken the most free throws in the SEC and hits a solid 74.6%.

While Kentucky sports the stronger defensive numbers and profile while ranking No. 1 in the SEC in efficiency defense and effective FG%, Tennessee is No. 2 in those categories and the Volunteers have one of the top five shot-blocking teams in the country averaging 5.9 blocks per game to lead the SEC.

Last season Tennessee tied for the SEC regular season title with Auburn at 13-5, and the Volunteers beat Kentucky twice during the regular season including 61-59 at Rupp Arena as a 2-point underdog for one of Kentucky's two home losses. P.J. Washington was held to just 4 points in that contest playing only 17 minutes with foul trouble and both teams shot poorly from the 3-point line with each team hitting less than 24%.

Kentucky got their redemption in the SEC tournament championship game with a 77-72 victory over Tennessee and the Wildcats were a 2-point underdog. Now the evenly-matched title contenders are on the big stage again with much at stake pushing for a SEC title and NCAA Tournament seeding.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee released its in-season rankings earlier this week and the Vols were the top seed in the South Region with Kentucky slotted as the no. 2 seed in the Midwest Region.

When March Madness arrives, the team seeded higher will get to remain in its natural region (the South), which means playing in Louisville in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, instead of the other, more distant potential destinations Kansas City (Midwest Region), Washington D.C. (East Region) and Anaheim (West Region).

Will Tennessee extend its program record 19-game winning streak Saturday? Kentucky has not lost back-to-back home games since 2009, and coach John Calipari has seen his younger Wildcats team improve considerably since mid-December with better spacing, shooting and more defined roles. Tough call, and not a must bet game. But there will still be plenty of betting interest and in-play wagering in one of the most watched games of the college basketball season. 

You can bet on it.