Kentucky basketball got an absolutely brutal draw in the NCAA Tournament after falling to Florida for the third time this season. The Cats are officially going dancing as a 7-seed in the Midwest Region, but the path through St. Louis is a nightmare of “bad matchups.”
They drew 10-seed Santa Clara in the opening round, a team that excels in the one area Kentucky has failed all year: physical, high-volume rebounding. And Vegas is taking notice with a tight line under 4 points.
The ‘Vegas’ disrespect
The Cats are a 7-seed, but the oddsmakers aren’t treating them like a favorite. FanDuel has the Cats as a -3.5 favorite, while other sites opened with Kentucky -2.5. This is the lowest seed Kentucky has received in over a decade, and the narrow spread suggests that the “experts” see an upset brewing.
To find a silver lining, BBN can look back to 2014 when an 8-seed Cats team went all the way to the title game. But that team eventually figured out how to win the battle in the paint, something this current squad is still searching for.
The Santa Clara ‘pothole’
The Broncos are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, hauling in 11 offensive boards per game. Contrast that with Kentucky’s performance against Florida, where they were out-rebounded 50-29 and surrendered 18 offensive rebounds…