Florida vs. Kentucky: How to watch, odds, picks, final score predictions from ESPN, KenPom

Kentucky and Florida face off tonight in an intra-conference battle between two tournament-hopeful squads. The ‘Cats and Gators are both trending the right direction over the past few weeks, with UF picking up its signature win on the year after downing Tennessee in Gainesville during the midweek slate. Meanwhile, Kentucky is a winner of five straight SEC contests heading into this one.

Big on tap between two traditional hoops powers in the SEC. For all of the relevant info — tip time, TV station, point-spreads, predictions, etc. — go ahead and read below.

How to watch

Tip-off: 8:30 p.m.

Location: Lexington, KY

Channel: ESPN

Vegas odds

According to the folks over at Vegas Insider, Kentucky averages out as about a five-point favorite at home over the Gators on Saturday night.

ESPN BPI Prediction

Predicted winner: Kentucky

Win probability: 72.3%

KenPom Prediction

Predicted final score: 70-66 Kentucky

Win probability: 64% Kentucky

More on Florida-Kentucky

Mike White may be gone but Florida is still very much a Mike White team in year one under Todd Golden. Colin Castleton is enjoying is umpteenth year of college hoops as the Gators are plenty talented and competitive enough to challenge the conference’s top dogs — it’s just that they usually come up short. Don’t worry, Gator fans, this team will likely sneak into the tournament on the back of a clean slate against the SEC’s bottom rung. But games like today are the ones Florida just can’t seem to win lately — the road game against a likely tournament team.

Kentucky waltzes into this contest playing some of their best basketball of the season and will have a drunken late-night Saturday crowd on hand. This is a game the ‘Cats absolutely need to win to maintain an assured NCAAT appearance. Pressure is on the home team in this one, though the road foe is fighting for their lives as well. Just seems like a fool’s errand to expect a second conference loss in Rupp Arena, especially after a disappointing night last weekend vs. Kansas.

High-stakes hoops set to tip off in Lexington this evening.