SEC Tournament: Alabama vs Kentucky

Will the road to the Final Four start in the SEC Tournament for the Kentucky Wildcats? We’ll find out when they take on Alabama in Friday afternoon’s NCAA Betting Odds.

Alabama Crimson Tide (17-14 SU, 13-13-1 ATS) vs. No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats (29-2 SU, 16-13 ATS): SEC Tournament Quarterfinal

Friday, March 12: 1:00 p.m.

Here are some NCAA Betting Trends which may impact this game:

Alabama: 3-0 ATS in their last 3 games
Alabama: 3-0 SU in their last 3 games

Kentucky: 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
Kentucky: Total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 5 games

If things do start in Nashville, it won’t be an easy road for Kentucky, as Alabama Crimson Tide is one of the sneakiest teams in college basketball. They’ve won three games in a row, and it may actually be addition by subtraction, as they removed second leading scorer JayMichael Green from the starting lineup after getting in trouble with coach Anthony Grant last week. The response has been those three wins with Green coming off the bench.

Either way, Alabama was on top of their game in an SEC Tournament opener in a win over South Carolina on Thursday. In the game, Mikail Torrance was on top of his game, scoring 17 points, in leading the Crimson Tide to 41 point second half and come from behind victory. Forward Justin Knox added 16 points, one off his season-high. But when Alabama takes the court in Friday’s betting odds, the task will be much tougher.

That’s because they’re playing the No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, the SEC regular season champions. The Wildcats are led by recently named SEC Player of the Year John Wall, who comes into this game as one of the superstars of college basketball. On the season, Wall finished sixth in all of college basketball, averaging 6.2 assists a game, to go without almost 17 points a contest as well.

However, Wall is certainly not the only star on this team, as Kentucky Wildcats has maybe the best inside-outside duo in all the country, featuring forwards DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson. The two combine to average over 30 points and 17 rebounds a game, and compliment each other perfectly. Over the course of the season, Cousins has turned into a big banger that commands a double team, while Patterson is the guy who can step out and hit a 15 foot jumper. And they compliment each other perfectly.

So now the question becomes, with all the talent in Kentucky, will Alabama be able to keep things close? Actually, they just might be able to.

It finally seems like Anthony Grant is getting through to his young Crimson Tide team, and they’ve responded by winning three games in a row, this after not being able to do that in SEC play all season. And in the first meeting between the two, Kentucky won by just 10 points, giving additional confidence to a young Alabama team.

We’re not saying that Alabama is going to win straight up against Kentucky on Friday afternoon, realistically, that just isn’t going to happen.

But with the Wildcats tendency to play erratic from time-to-time, it favors the Crimson Tide against the point spread in the betting odds. And that’s why they should be your pick Friday afternoon too.

Aaron’s Pick: Alabama ATS