Kentucky vs. Louisville, Calipari vs. Pitino for the Battle of the Bluegrass. Kentucky puts its undefeated season on the line Saturday against the 4th ranked Louisville Cardinals. Kentucky is currently a 6 point favorite.
Several media members have made their predictions this week. John Clay of Kentucky.com collected predictions from over 80 media members including our very own Scott Anderson and Anthony Wireman.
Scott Anderson (Nation of Blue) says Kentucky 74, Louisville 62. Kentucky’s depth is too much for the Cardinals.
Anthony Wireman (All KY Hoops) says Kentucky 73, Louisville 61. I believe anything is possible in a rivalry game, especially on the road, but I think UK has too much this season. Cats roll.
As for my prediction, I think the Cats have to much depth and height for the Cards. Louisville will keep it close for about 30 minutes, but Kentucky will pull away in the end with a 74-64 win.
Dick Vitale made his prediction Friday, and said it would be not be Cupcake City for Kentucky.
Digger Phelps went on with Campus Insiders and talked about the big game and also made his prediction.
Myron Medcalf of ESPN thinks the game will be close and go into overtime.
No. 1 Kentucky at No. 5 Louisville, 2 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN2: No need to waste time. There are reasons to believe that Kentucky could lose, but they’re tied to the history of college basketball’s best rivalry game more than this season’s reality. In the past five seasons, coach John Calipari is 1-4 in Kentucky’s first true road game of the season. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the past five meetings between these two enemies have been decided by single digits. Plus, the Cardinals can swarm the Wildcats with full-court pressure (they’re seventh in defensive turnover percentage). Here’s the issue with all of that: Kentucky is still huge and it still has the best defense in America. Its opponents have connected on just 32 percent of their 2-pointers, and they’re shooting 27 percent from beyond the arc. How do you get an offensive rhythm going against that, especially if you’re a Louisville team that doesn’t really stretch the floor (29 percent from the 3-point line)? But this is Louisville-Kentucky. And Rick Pitino ain’t lettin’ Calipari just walk into the Yum! Center and whip his squad. This will be a fight. That’s the only way with these two teams.
Prediction: Kentucky 80, Louisville 77 (OT)
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