Auburn Will Take Down Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Auburn, 6:00 ET

Saturday is a day dominated by college. In the fall, we have college football that takes over our day and fills us with drama and excitement all in one. Now, we have college basketball that takes us from the end of the pigskin through the end of March. Right now, we get a ton of games today with more games than I care to count. I tend to focus on the games between ranked opponents or that have at least one ranked team, but there are a ton of games that have value today. In this one, we will once again look at a game between two ranked squads as Kentucky takes on Auburn. 

Kentucky comes into this game in the midst of a bit of struggle. They have a record of 17-7 overall but their conference performance has stumbled lately as they've gone 7-4 since conference play began. They are just 2-3 over their past five games, and the most concerning part of all of it is that they've lost three of those games at home. They've only played six road games this season (true road games, not neutral court games) and they are 4-2 in those games which is better than most of the other college teams out there. They shoot very well for a college team with their overall numbers being almost 50% from the floor and 40% from beyond the arc. Their guards lead them and only really have one forward who is someone I think Auburn should be concerned about. There are two other forwards that play over 15 minutes a game, but they have six guards that play 20 or more minutes a game. If they can find a way to get some outside shots to fall against a tough defense, they will be able to keep the game close. Shooting on the road is always a bigger challenge and playing against a motivated Auburn team should cause trouble for the Wildcats.

Kentucky coach John Calipari's daughter Erin destroyed an online troll after the Wildcats lost to South Carolina. (Credit: Getty Images)

Auburn is one of those teams that I feel like I never get correct. That doesn't mean I'll stay away from them - it means I need to take my money back! However, I also like to provide full disclosure to readers so they know if there is a team or something that might have my number. In any case, Auburn has been great this season with a 20-5 record and are coming off a very dominant win against South Carolina. They won that game by 40… I thought that the Gamecocks would put up more of a fight, but Auburn blitzed them after an embarrassing loss to Florida. Even with that loss, they are still 4-1 over their past five games. However, if you expand that a bit more, they are 4-3 over the past seven games, with all three of their losses coming on the road. Unlike the Wildcats, Auburn is led by their front court. They do have some solid guards on the team, but not really the caliber of Kentucky. Auburn should dominate the glass and interior. Auburn isn't the best shooting team in the country, but they are respectable with 47% shooting from the floor and 34% from deep. At home, those numbers should at least be true if not improve. 

I think Auburn will dominate Kentucky in this game. While I was concerned about the loss to Florida, the way they played against South Carolina alleviated the concern. I don't think it will be as easy as the game against the Gamecocks, but they should be able to at least play defense effectively. Kentucky is better on the road than most college squads, but this Auburn team gets its second game in a row at home. I'll take Auburn to cover the spread in this one and hope they can come through for me. 

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