Kentucky Wildcats vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Friday, 03/28/25

There are 7 Sweet 16 teams from the SEC, but only 2 are going head-to-head. The Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats will be facing each other for the 3rd time this season when they battle for a spot in the Elite 8 on Friday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Outside of the top teams in the nation, whom Tennessee obviously won’t run into as a #2 seed until at least the Elite 8, Kentucky is the last opponent the Volunteers would want to face at this stage. The Wildcats swept the regular-season series with a 78-73 road win followed by a 75-64 victory at Rupp Arena. Are those results repeatable? Probably. Kentucky held Tennessee to a combined 14-for-61 (23 percent) shooting from three-point range in those 2 contests. That is nothing out of the ordinary for the ‘Cats, who are 24th in the nation in three-point defense (30.6 percent).

Kentucky is better than its 24-11 (10-8 SEC) record suggests. Former San Diego State guard Lamont Butler missed 9 games due to injury but is looking better by the day. After doing nothing in Round 1 against Troy, Butler delivered 14 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 3 steals during an 84-75 victory over Illinois. Tennessee, which ousted Wofford and UCLA in the first 2 rounds, is also playing well. However, this is clearly a matchup the Vols do not love. Is Kentucky going to beat conference rival Tennessee for the 3rd time this season? Maybe, maybe not. But getting 4.5 points, the value is definitely with UK.

Kentucky vs Tennessee prediction: Kentucky +4.5 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to +3.5.

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