Alabama Crimson Tide at Kentucky Wildcats Same Game Parlay Pick

After years of being something of a red-headed stepchild compared to its relative success in football, SEC basketball has taken center stage this season. In November, there were fever dreams of all 16 teams making it into the NCAA Tournament, and although those have gone by the wayside, Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology has 11 teams making it into March Madness. Currently, nine SEC teams rank in the Top 25 and there are a whopping five teams in the Top 10, including the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats. 

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This is not an unfamiliar position for Kentucky. The Wildcats are the only blue blood basketball school in the SEC. However, there were major changes in Lexington this offseason as John Calipari was replaced after winning just one NCAA Tournament game in the last five seasons. Alumnus Mark Pope was brought in after successful stints at Utah Valley and BYU to right the ship, and the Wildcats are sitting at 14-3 with wins over Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M.

As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide basketball team stood in the long shadow of giants like Bear Bryant and Nick Saban for decades. They never made it past the Elite Eight until last season when Nate Oats took them all the way to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Oats has taken Alabama to the NCAA Tournament in four straight seasons, and the Crimson Tide are currently projected to be a No. 1 seed. 

Alabama Crimson Tide at Kentucky Wildcats SGP

Although the Associated Press currently has Kentucky and Alabama rated as Top 25 teams, Ken Pomeroy is not so high on either squad. The Wildcats have the second-rated offense in the country according to Pomeroy’s metrics, but this defense is ranked 74th, leading to Kentucky being ranked 16th overall. Alabama is rated 10th overall thanks to having the 7th ranked offense and the 35th ranked defense.

The Crimson Tide consistently rank in the top five nationally in tempo under Nate Oats. This is a team that likes to shoot early and often, and that’s why eight players are currently averaging at least 7.0 PPG. Mark Sears is the leading scorer on the team with 18.6 PPG, but he hasn’t been that efficient from the floor. Sears is making just 40.8% of his field goals and 35.3% of his three-point attempts for Alabama on the year.

Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was the team’s most efficient scorer until he suffered a season-ending Achilles’ injury in early December. Now, sophomore Aden Holloway holds that spot and has been on fire from beyond the arc in recent weeks. Holloway has made 15 of 32 three-point attempts over the last five games, and he is averaging at least 10 PPG in each of his last six games.

Former North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson is who you want to watch on the glass for Alabama. Nelson is the top rebounder on the team in the four guard offense that Oats likes to run, but he isn’t a threat to hit threes on his own.

Kentucky has six players averaging between 9.8 PPG and 15.4 PPG. Otega Oweh currently leads the Wildcats with 15.4 PPG, and he has scored at least 10 points in every game this season. Conversely, Koby Brea was the team’s most efficient shooter early in the season and went 7 of 9 from beyond the arc in a 106-100 win over Florida two weeks ago. However, Brea has been ice cold in each of Kentucky’s last three games, making just 4 of his last 21 field goal attempts.

This is going to be the most anticipated game Saturday and could be the highest-scoring game of the day too if Kentucky decides to run with Alabama. We could easily see both teams finish with over 100 points, but the Wildcats might try to play a more measured game after what we saw from Alabama on Tuesday night against Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide finished with just 64 points after turning the ball over 21 times.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS VS. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE OVER

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE ML

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