SEC Tournament Free Picks – Alabama vs. #2 Kentucky

Kentucky has taken their freshman star and their brand new coach and proven that they’re ready for the national spotlight. Coach John Calipari continues his amazing tradition of breeding incredible point-guards by continuing to develop John Wall. The Wildcats have been playing marvelously against the spread, but there is caution here. I would be wary of a team run by a freshman no matter how good he is.

Wall is averaging a team high 16.8 points and 6.2 assists and he burst on to the national scene with a 55-point effort at Madison Square Garden. Standing behind his stalwart abilities, the Kentucky Wildcats have been an NCAAB betting delight which isn’t something you can say about many of the top ranked teams. The Wildcats have gone 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games.

There is no doubt Wall will be the number-one pick in the draft. After the success of Calipari’s former prospects, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose, teams are lining up to snatch up any point guard he produces. However, as I revealed in a piece a week ago, the number-one pick in the draft has never won the NCAA Title. To be fair to Wall, his abilities are out-worldly but the track record of number-one picks in the NBA draft has not been kind in tournament play.

That being said, Wall is not the only star player on the Kentucky Wildcats. DeMarcus Cousins is averaging 15.6 points and 10.1 rebounds as a freshman and is also expected to be one of the draft’s top picks. Against Alabama this season he dropped 22-and-10 to help bolster the 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS record the Wildcats hold over the Crimson Tide.

Alabama Crimson Tide (17-14) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (29-2)

Friday, March 12 th --- Bridgestone Arena --- 1:00pm EST

NCAAB Betting Line: Kentucky -9.5 (136)

For their part, Alabama has gone 3-4 ATS in their past 7 games but those three betting spread victories have come in their last three games. They were able to cover a 15-point spread in a 55-66 loss against the Wildcats in early February so the fact that the betting spread has dropped to single-digits is a more than fair assessment of this matchup by the college basketball betting oddsmakers.

I remain skeptical of how well John Wall and Cousins can perform under tournament pressures, but so far they haven’t let Kentucky’s betting faithful down. Alabama isn’t a team that matches up very well against Kentucky so I’m more than happy to side with the Wildcats and the points. But as we roll deeper in to the SEC Tournament, and kick off March Madness thereafter, I’ll have my doubts about Kentucky.

Until then, they have the benefit of the doubt.

Furious Free Pick: Kentucky -9.5 (UNDER)