Seth Davis of The Athletic has made his prediction and the BBN will like what he says about Kentucky and their matchup with Houston in the Sweet 16.
Kentucky (-2½) vs. Houston, 9:59 p.m., TBS. The most important development, of course, is the apparent improvement of Kentucky’s leading scorer and rebounder, 6-8 sophomore forward PJ Washington. He missed the Wildcats’ first two games of the tournament with a sprained foot, but now his cast is off and all indications are he is going to at least try to play. This spread was locked in Wednesday night. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it tick up if it’s confirmed that Washington is going to play.
I would take Kentucky to cover even without Washington, and if the line gets bigger I would stick with the Cats. There’s a reason I picked Kentucky to reach the national championship game. Not only do the Wildcats have talent, but I love the way their pieces fit together. The same could be said for Houston, but the Cougars do not have the size and depth in the frontcourt to match up with a Kentucky squad that ranks seventh in the country in offensive rebound percentage. I also love the matchup of Kentucky’s defensive ball hawk, Ashton Hagans, against Houston’s leading scorer, Corey Davis, a 6-1 senior who averaged 26 points per game in the first two rounds. The pick: Kentucky
