Sports Betting – SEC Foes Kentucky, Vandy Are Ranked, Big Dance-Bound

Sports bettors know that even in what is not a banner year for the SEC, two teams that are virtually assured of getting to the Big Dance are the #18 Kentucky Wildcats and #23 Vanderbilt Commodores. On Saturday they will meet at the Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, with a starting time of 1 PM ET. Vandy ought to be favored by a couple in the basketball betting odds. Look for the game on CBS.

Sports Betting – College Basketball

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#18 Kentucky Wildcats (17-6 SU, 9-9 ATS) at #23 Vanderbilt Commodores (17-6 SU, 10-6-1 ATS)

Live at Memorial Gymnasium

Nashville, TN

Saturday, February 12 — 1 PM ET

TV – CBS

Sports Betting Odds:  TBA

The Charles Jay Line – Estimate:  Vanderbilt -2

Here are the sports betting trends that are related to this game:

• Kentucky has covered three of its last nine games
• Kentucky has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
• Kentucky has covered one of its last five road games
• Kentucky has lost four of its last five road games SU
• Vanderbilt has won 15 of its last 20 games SU
• Vanderbilt has won 14 of its last 15 home games SU

Vandy is just coming off a close call against Alabama, but then, a lot of teams are going to be in that position against the Crimson Tide. They still shot 51% in the game against a team that is well-schooled on the defensive end, allowing only 36% by opponents. So in looking at this from a sports betting perspective, it’s actually pretty encouraging.

Kentucky was very impressive last time out, scoring a home win over Tennessee. Even though Bruce Pearl returned to the sidelines, and the Vols had the depth advantage, the ‘Cats still managed to beat the sports betting line of 8.5 points. These teams have identical records and are pretty well-positioned to place themselves in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, they are both trying to get that "protected seed."

These are the head-to-head trends concerning sports betting on this SEC rivalry:

• Kentucky has covered five of the last seven meetings
• Kentucky has won 17 of the last 25 meetings SU
• Kentucky has covered four of the last six meetings as the road team
• Four of the last six meetings in Nashville have gone OVER the total
• Vanderbilt has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings

Vanderbilt, which averages 78 points a game and is still over the .500 mark in sports betting (10-6-1 ATS), does not mind turning up the volume, and they can throw a balanced offense at any opponent, although they are missing a key defensive component here with the absence of forward Andre Walker. Lance Goulbourne has still not come back to 100% with his ankle problem, as he had just three rebounds in 32 minutes against ‘Bama.

The ‘Dores have experience, though, and that is something that often serves them well late in close games. It sure did in the Alabama game, as they had to fight each and every step of the way in the second half. We know that Kentucky has three fabulous freshman in Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb. But Knight isn’t really playing his natural position right now, and there is no real depth to turn to. The Wildcats have not traveled all that well, recording a 3-5 record, both straight-up and in the sports betting odds, and has chalked up just one SEC win as the visitor.

JAY’S PLAY:  VANDERBILT BY 6

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