College GameDay (kind of) picks Kentucky over Arkansas in a clean sweep

by:Jack Pilgrim•about 9 hours

Were you waiting for Kentucky vs. Arkansas picks from the College GameDay panel to wrap up the show? Don’t worry, we won’t blame you for protesting the preview show because they picked Cameron Indoor inside of Rupp Arena — the crowd truly embarrassing, in case you missed it.

It’s okay, though. We watched it, and much to our surprise, they didn’t make picks for Coach Cal’s return to Lexington alongside the other high-profile games of the day. They rolled through four or five others before getting to Duke vs. North Carolina to wrap up the segment and head to the halfcourt shot for cash. The kid hit it, in case you were curious.

You had to rewind back 30 minutes to find where they made their picks, sneaking them in a bottom-third talking about the game. All four of Andraya Carter, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg and Jay Bilas chose the Wildcats, but didn’t say a single word about their selections and why it was a clean sweep for UK.

Instead, we got Bilas quickly breaking down the game:

“Without Lamont Butler in the lineup for Kentucky, that means there’s not going to be as much pressure on the ball. So, in my view, what Kentucky needs to do is attack the paint relentlessly and attack the glass relentlessly to get second shots. They’re certainly going to have to get back in transition but one of the ways that you deal with Kentucky’s transition is run better offense. Your offense has to help your defense to keep Kentucky out of transition.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

But I do think that Arkansas can get into the paint — Kentucky is not a great defensive team. They’re solid. They’re a great offensive team, but I think Arkansas is going to have the ability to get into the paint, and if they finish plays at the rim, get fouled, and then they hammer the offensive glass, they’ll have a chance.”

Clearly Bilas doesn’t think they have much of a chance, because he picked the Cats to win, as did the other three on the panel. Not that they told you with the instrument they’re paid to use, though!