It was a tough season for Alabama last year, as Coach Anthony Grant has to experience his first losing season in charge of the Crimson Tide. Things are moving in the right direction this year, though, with a pair of transfers joining star player Levi Randolph in helping take the team to a 12-4 record, which is just one win less than they managed all of last year. While many are already crowning the college basketball betting favorites, the Kentucky Wildcats as the champion of this year’s NCAA Tournament, there still more than two months before the season is over, which means that there’s still time to improve or simply to go on the opposite direction.
How To Bet the Wildcats vs Crimson Tide NCAA Hoops Lines & TV Info
When: Saturday, January 217th, 4:00 PM
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
TV: ESPN
Why bet on Alabama
But if Alabama is looking for a measuring stick to see how good they really are they won’t get a bigger test than welcoming in #1 Kentucky (16-0) on Saturday. The biggest sticking point for Alabama is going to be finding enough offense to knock off the big boys. The strides that they have made this season have largely been because of their defensive play, but they do tend to get on some hot streaks offensively during games, especially when playing at home. If they can control the perimeter and land some 3-pointers, they could make this one interesting.
Why bet on Kentucky
It doesn’t really come as much of a surprise to anyone that Kentucky (16-0) is sitting where they are right now. The key to success for Kentucky in this one is to pressure the Bama shooters on the perimeter, which is exactly what they did to Missouri, who play a very similar style to the Crimson Tide. That was actually a big game for the Wildcats, as they had struggled to finish off both Texas A&M and Mississippi in their first two SEC conference games of the season. The 86-37 destruction of Missouri restored a little faith, some of which had been lost after finding out that their number 1 ranking was not unanimous for the first time this year.
My Betting Prediction and Pick
Despite needing an overtime to beat Ole Miss and two overtimes to notch a 70-64 win over Texas A&M, Kentucky will make the trip to Alabama as a 9-point favorite, and they certainly have been a bettors delight when traveling this season, going 6-2-1 ATS on the road in their last 9 trips. Alabama has not really had any joy against the Wildcats in recent years, and are in fact 2-8 SU in their last 10 meetings with the Crimson Tide.
This game actually represents the first time in more than 10 years that a top ranked team has rolled into Alabama for a game. The last time was way back in 1994, when Arkansas came to town as a #1, only to lose 66-64 to Bama. Kentucky seem to have found their feet again after a pretty shaky start to conference play. They looked supremely confident in their last outing against Missouri, and I expect them to carry that over on Saturday by winning and covering the betting spread.
