Ranking Kentucky's Remaining Games By Difficulty (Part II)

On3 imageby:Drew Franklin01/31/18

DrewFranklinKSR

[caption id="attachment_236199" align="alignnone" width="1741"] Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports[/caption] Last week we took a look at Kentucky's twelve remaining regular season games and the win probability of each, beginning with the most difficult game on the entire schedule: at West Virginia. Kentucky has since defied the odds by winning that game, followed by a close call in what was considered the easiest game on the schedule: last night's home contest against Vanderbilt, which was anything but easy. The Cats also beat Mississippi State in the third-easiest game left on the schedule, when we broke it all down last week, after the tough loss to Florida.
@ West Virginia Sat, Jan 27 Win Probability: 17.8% Outcome: Kentucky 83, West Virginia 76
vs. Mississippi State Tue, Jan 23 Win Probability: 80.9% Outcome: Kentucky 78, Mississippi State 65
vs. Vanderbilt Tue, Jan 30 Win Probability: 83.6% Outcome: Kentucky 83, Vanderbilt 81 (OT)
Today we'll revisit the remaining schedule with the updated odds and win probabilities.   1.) @ Auburn Wed, Feb 14 Kentucky's game at Auburn jumped the game at Florida in the difficulty rankings as Auburn has extended its lead in the SEC standings. The trip to Auburn in two weeks is a must-win game if Kentucky wants any shot at winning the regular season championship. Previous Win Probability: 27.7% Updated Win Probability: 24.3%
2.) @ Florida Sat, Mar 3 Kentucky's chances against the Gators look a little better today than they did last week after the impressive win at West Virginia and Florida's Tuesday night loss at Georgia. Florida has dropped two straight SEC games since winning in Rupp Arena, the other being a home loss to South Carolina. Both sides now have three losses apiece in conference play. Previous Win Probability: 27.0% Updated Win Probability: 31.7%
3.) @ Texas A&M Sat, Feb 10 The trip to College Station doesn't seem nearly as difficult as we expected before the season began, but Kentucky still only has a 36.9 percent shot to beat the struggling Aggies, according to the BPI. A&M beat Arkansas by 14 last night, so maybe it broke out of its funk. Previous Win Probability: 34.2% Updated Win Probability: 36.9%
4.) @ Arkansas Tue, Feb 20 The BPI thinks higher of Kentucky's chances at Arkansas than it did a week ago, moving the percentage up five percent. It now projects the Cats would win four out of 10 trips to Fayetteville. Previous Win Probability: 35.4% Updated Win Probability: 40.6%
5.) @ Missouri Sat, Feb 3 This coming Saturday's game against Missouri is the fifth most difficult left, and the easiest of the five remaining road games. I predict the opening line will be somewhere in the neighborhood of Missouri -1.5 when it comes out Friday evening. Previous Win Probability: 38.3% Updated Win Probability: 44.7%
6.) vs. Tennessee Tue, Feb 6 No. 18 Tennessee will be the toughest test of the four remaining Rupp Arena games in 2017-18. As it stands now, it is pretty close to coin flip as to which side will be victorious in the rematch of a game the Vols won, 76-65, in Knoxville earlier this season. Previous Win Probability: 52.6% Updated Win Probability: 53.0%
7.) vs. Alabama Sat, Feb 17 One of the SEC's best players, Collin Sexton, will put the Crimson Tide on his back in trying to upset Kentucky in the only meeting between Alabama and Kentucky this season. Bama freshman John Petty will also get up for that one, considering he was once a VERY strong UK lean before he eventually signed with Avery Johnson. Those two guards give Alabama a chance, but it's still a game Kentucky should be pretty confident in winning. Previous Win Probability: 72.2% Update Win Probability: 75.1 %
8.) vs. Missouri Sat, Feb 24 Missouri is the only team that Kentucky still has to play twice in the regular season. Winning one is a must; winning two would be great. There is a 33.9 percent chance UK pulls off the double-win against the Tigers. Previous Win Probability: 69.5% Updated Win Probability: 75.9%
9.) vs. Ole Miss Wed, Feb 28 With the Vanderbilt game behind us, Ole Miss is the least challenging remaining opponent on the regular season schedule. It has been 20 years since Ole Miss won a game in Rupp Arena. Previous Win Probability: 82.0% Updated Win Probability: 83.4%
(Win Probability determined by College Basketball Power Index)

Discuss This Article

Comments have moved.

Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.

KSBoard

2024-03-28