KSR Gameday: No. 4 Kentucky hosts No. 25 Alabama at Rupp Arena

Kentucky will look to respond to its wake-up call suffered in Knoxville by taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rupp Arena on Saturday.

A rematch of Kentucky’s 66-55 victory over Alabama in Tuscaloosa back on February 4, the Tide have won three straight, including at Ole Miss, vs. Arkansas and vs. Mississippi State. It’s a stretch of impressive play that pushed the Tide back into the rankings, coming in at No. 25 this week in the latest AP Poll.

Sitting at 17-9 on the year and 7-6 in conference play, Alabama is averaging 80.4 points per contest, good for No. 17 in all of college basketball. It is also shooting 44.6 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from three and 72.0 percent from the line while pulling down 40.3 rebounds per contest, good for No. 14 in the nation.

It’s a bit of a wacky resume, with the Tide racking up seven Quad 1 wins (Gonzaga, Houston, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Baylor and Arkansas) but a combined four Quad 2 and 3 losses in Iona, Davidson, Missouri and Georgia. With Alabama capable of beating or losing to anyone in the country, the Tide are currently projected as a No. 5 seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.

TV, Radio Info

The ball will be tipped off at 1 p.m. ET with Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst) on the call for CBS. If you can’t watch it, you can listen in a variety of ways:

• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Satellite: XM 81, Sirius 81, SXM App: 81
• Online: iHeart Radio

The KSR Pregame Show will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on 630 WLAP and iHeart Radio. 

Vegas, KenPom Predictions

Kentucky opened as 7-point favorites, but the line is now holding steady at -6.5 in favor of the Wildcats as we inch closer to tip-off. Caesars, Circa, Mirage-MGM, PlayMGM, Treasure Island, William Hill and Wynn all have UK currently favored by 6.5 points, while Atlantis, DraftKings, Pointsbet, Southpoint, Stations and Westgate like the Cats by 7. The over/under has been set at 155 points.

Winning the first matchup 66-55 down in Tuscaloosa, ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Kentucky an 85.9 percent chance to win while KenPom gives the Wildcats an 82 percent chance at victory. UK is 8-7-0 as the home team against the spread this season and 10-10-0 as the favorite while Alabama is 2-5-0 against the spread on the road and 3-2-0 as the underdog.

Kentucky set to bring in 50+ alumni for Letteman’s Day

Rupp Arena will be loaded with former Kentucky standouts to celebrate the program’s first annual Letterman’s Day.

Organized by UK Director of Player Development TJ Beisner, over 50 former players will be back in Lexington on Saturday, ranging from the Adolph Rupp era to now under John Calipari.

Excited to welcome back over 50 former @KentuckyMBB players for our first Letterman’s Day tomorrow.

Players from every era – from Coach Rupp to Coach Cal – will be in attendance at Rupp. #BBN, I know you’ll make them all feel welcomed!

— TJ Beisner (@tjbeisner) February 18, 2022

Kyle Tucker of The Athletic reports that Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are among the former Wildcats expected to be in attendance.

Bracket Reveal coming before the tip

What does the NCAA selection committee think of the Wildcats? We’re going to find out this afternoon.

As we creep closer toward March Madness, the committee is set to reveal its current top 16 on CBS at 12:30 p.m. ET, just 30 minutes before Kentucky vs. Alabama tips off. It will be an opportunity to give the college basketball world an inside look at the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds as things stand today and what is valued most in the committee’s eyes on Selection Sunday.

Where will Kentucky fall? Lunardi has the Wildcats listed as the best No. 2 seed and the fifth-best team in the nation, while NCAA.com’s Andy Katz has UK projected as a No. 2 seed and No. 6 overall.

We’ll find out the official rankings shortly before the opening tip.

Saturday’s College Basketball Slate

• TCU at No. 7 Baylor (12 p.m. ET) – ESPN2
• No. 12 at No. 19 Michigan State (12 p.m. ET) – ESPN
• Xavier at No. 24 UCONN (12 p.m. ET ) – FOX
• No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 20 Texas (12:30 p.m. ET) – ABC
• No. 25 Alabama at No. 4 Kentucky (1 p.m. ET) – CBS
• No. 2 Auburn at Florida (2 p.m. ET) – ESPN
• Iowa at No. 18 Ohio State (2:30 p.m. ET) – FOX
• No. 16 Tennessee at No. 23 Arkansas (4 p.m. ET) – ESPN
• Air Force at No. 22 Wyoming (4 p.m. ET)
• No. 21 Murray State at UT Martin (4:30 p.m. ET) – ESPN+
• Georgetown at No. 10 Villanova (5 p.m. ET) – FOX
• Florida State at No. 9 Duke (6 p.m. ET) – ESPN
• No. 6 Kansas at West Virginia (8 p.m. ET) – ESPN
• Santa Clara at No. 1 Gonzaga (9 p.m. ET)
• Oregon at No. 3 Arizona (10 p.m. ET) – ESPN
• Washington at No. 13 UCLA (10 p.m. ET) – FS1

Georgia looking to fire Tom Crean?

Is Tom Crean on his way out of Georgia? One local report indicates it may be on the table.

According to DawgSports.com, Georgia officials are looking into firing Crean for cause “after he failed to report a physical altercation between two of his assistants to university officials.”

The report claims that the incident was reported to human resources by someone other than Crean, leading to a violation of his contract and a potential out from the $3.6 buyout the school would have to pay to fire him. DawgSports is reporting that the school was “building Crean’s firing packet as of 9:00 EST on Friday night.”

The altercation took place at halftime of Georgia’s game at LSU on Wednesday between assistant coach Wade Mason and director of player personnel Brian Fish. Mason has since been suspended indefinitely.

If Crean is fired, I know a school down I-64 that would just love to take him.