Pope Update

Kentucky whomped Oklahoma 94-78 at Rupp Arena last night.  The Cats have now won seven of their last eight games.  They are 7-3 in the SEC, and 16-7 overall.  They are ranked 31 on Ken Pom, and they have eight games left.  In their first ten SEC games, they have outscored their opponents 780-760 -- meaning that the average score of a UK SEC game this year has been 78 to 76.  Their luck score is up to 137, meaning that their record is now better than their offensive and defensive efficiency would indicate.

Ken Pom thinks they will finish 11-7 and 20-11.  Here are his predictions for the last eight games -- games where UK is favored are in bold.  It looks like the UK fans are in for a bunch of nailbiters:

2/7:  TENNESSEE:  73-72 (53 percent chance of winning)

2/14:  at Florida:  72-81 (19 percent chance)

2/17:  GEORGIA:  84-79 (69 percent chance)

2/21:  at Auburn:  76-80 (35 percent chance)

2/24:  at S. Carolina:  76-71 (68 percent chance)

2/28:  VANDERBILT:  78-79 (47 percent chance)

3/3:  Texas A & M:  77-81 (38 percent chance)

3/7:  FLORIDA:  75-78 (38 percent chance)

Notice that even though Ken Pom only has UK favored in three of these games, he thinks they will likely pull out one more.

Here are the Classic SEC rankings, according to Ken Pom:

7.  Florida:  16-6

13.  Vanderbilt:  19-3

17.  Tennessee:  16-6

21.  Alabama:  15-7

27.  Auburn:  14-8

31.  Kentucky:  16-7

41.  Georgia:  16-6

48.  Louisiana St:  14-8

66.  Mississippi:  11-11

84.  Mississippi St:  11-11