Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky prediction and odds for SEC Tournament quarterfinals

Last year March could not have gone worse for Kentucky, they fell to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and then we all remember their loss as a two-seed to Saint Peter’s in the big dance. This year, they’re flying under the radar a little more as the 23rd ranked team in the country and the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament. John Calipari’s Wildcats begin their journey through March against Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals today. Just yesterday, the Commodores took down LSU to advance.

Now, we get to find out how this group of Wildcats navigate the most important month in college basketball. Let’s check out the odds for Kentucky and Vanderbilt in Nashville for the SEC Tournament.

Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky odds, spread and total

Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky prediction and pick

Vandy comes in as one of the hottest teams in the SEC. They’ve won four in a row including a two-point win over UK at Rupp Arena. That’s a hard place to win and they got the win without their leading scorer contributing at all. Liam Robbins played just four minutes in that game and finished with two points. He averaged 15.0 a game, but hasn’t played since that game when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

Since his injury, Vanderbilt has adapted themselves into a guard heavy unit. Yesterday, their two starting forwards, Myles Stute and Quentin Millora-Brown combined for three points against LSU. That’s not going to be enough against a front court with Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe.

I like what Kentucky is doing with their guards and Cason Wallace has shown a lot of maturity down the stretch this season, so I’ll take Kentucky to beat Vandy and to cover in this one. I think there will be a lot of motivation after last year’s disappointment and that’s worth a lot to me.