NCAA Basketball: Preview of the 2018-19 Big 12/SEC Challenge

#9 Kansas vs #8 Kentucky

In easily the best matchup of the day, Kansas will head to Lexington to face Kentucky in the night cap.

Kansas has been sluggish lately, losing on the road to West Virginia on Saturday. The Jayhawks already have a pair of losses in conference play, but somehow still find themselves as the frontrunners.

However in Lexington, the Kentucky Wildcats are red hot. After nearly falling out of the top-25, Coach Cal’s team is a clear top ten team, and is finally formulating into the young group of menaces that was expected.

A big matchup will be between the forwards Dedric Lawson of Kansas, and Reid Travis of Kentucky. A pair of big time transfers, Lawson is the likely Big 12 Player of the Year, while Travis has been huge in his senior year from Stanford.

While Kansas hasn’t looked amazing as of late, the Jayhawks are still a great team, and should give Kentucky everything that they can handle on Saturday.

Despite Kansas’ danger as a good shooting team with young, explosive players, I like Kentucky’s chances to perfectly match that explosiveness. I think Kentucky shows the nation why they’re ranked so high, and pick up the biggest win of their season.

Prediction: Kentucky 78, Kansas 77

The Big 12/SEC challenge is always a load of fun, and this year should be no different. I would totally expect almost every game to be down-to-the-wire, and should make the Big 12/SEC challenge a must watch, as it is year in and year out.