College Hoops Picks: Kentucky Wildcats @ Tennessee Volunteers

The SEC hasn't been quite the same since Florida won back-to-back championships. The level of competition once the entire starting Gator squad left and Tubby Smith left Kentucky to go coach Minnesota has decreased substantially.

This doesn't mean, though, that games between SEC rivals this season won't be good, especially as they both try to regain national attention.

The Vols (10-4, 1-0) snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday when they traveled to Georgia for their SEC opener. Earlier in the season, they defeated quality Big East opponents like Georgetown and Marquette, but fell prey to the likes of Gonzaga (twice), Temple, and Kansas.

Kentucky (12-4, 1-0) has had a different sort of season, losing their first two games to Virginia Military and UNC. They had a five-game win streak snapped by a then-ranked Miami (FL) team, and later had a six-game win streak snapped by a three-point shot in the final seconds by a ranked Louisville team. They rebounded from their in-state loss to Louisville by defeating Vanderbilt in their SEC opener.

Both teams are capable of competing in the national spotlight—it's become a question of which team decides to show up.

	Kentucky	Tennessee
Record:	12-4	10-4
SEC Record:	1-0	1-0
PF:	79.8	84.3
PA:	64.8	75.1
FG %	.505	.455
FGA/Gm	55.7	65.0
FT %	.787	.694
3P %	.337	.308
3PA/Gm	17.1	22.3
RPG	38.4	43.1
SPG	6.9	7.2
APG	17.9	17.6
TO	18.1	15.0

Both teams have played pretty well all season—the Vols are prone to take more shots, which can hurt them because they do not always wait for their best opportunity. Kentucky has a much better winning margin (15 points) compared to Tennessee (nine points). On the other side, though, Tennessee averages almost 20 more points per game than Kentucky allows, so something's gotta give.

Both teams have quality players who have made huge impacts on their programs.

Kentucky Key Players

Jodie Meeks (Junior, Guard)

Meeks is the Wildcat offense. He averages 24.2 points per game, is very accurate from the charity stripe (he is currently 92 for 102), and can hit from beyond the arc with the best of them (.419 on 132 attempts). Meeks has been in foul trouble once this season, so if that were to happen, the Wildcats would surely have huge problems on their hands.

Patrick Patterson (Sophomore, Forward)

Patterson is averaging 18.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. Aside from Meeks, he is the only Wildcat averaging double-figure points per game. His stats are up slightly from last season, but he has been a solid player both seasons. Patterson will be looking for his 10th double-double of the season come Tuesday.

Tennessee Key Players

Tyler Smith (Junior, Forward)

Smith gained a lot of national attention last season when the Vols upset top-ranked Memphis and took the top spot themselves for a week. This season he is yet to score in single digits (he is averaging 17.7 points per game) and has been passing the ball more (his APG are up from last season). Look for Smith to have a huge impact and extend his streak of having a block in a game to five.

Wayne Chism (Junior, Forward)

While not the impact player that Smith is, Chism is a different player with a different impact. His presence is known under the basket more than on the perimeter (he averages 12.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game). He has had as few as three and as many as 19 rebounds in a game this season.

Prediction

Kentucky has looked better recently, but they only have two players averaging double-digit points per game—they happen to also account for more than half the average Kentucky PPG. Tennessee, on the other hand, is a deeper team with four players averaging double-digit points per game.

The Vols are still looking to rebound from their losses to Kansas and Gonzaga, and a win in their SEC home opener would be a solid statement for a team that just slipped out of the Top 25.

Tennessee has been letting teams back in games far too much recently for me to be comfortable in saying this is going to be anything but a close game. Their shot selection has not been great, yet they have somehow managed to stay competitive.

Smith was on crutches going into the Georgia game, and while he did play, I'm not convinced he was as aggressive as he could have been. Kentucky just is not deep enough to overcome a quality Vols team, and aggressive playing on the part of Tennessee is going to be necessary to try to draw fouls from the Wildcats' two key players.

Tennessee wins their SEC home opener with a healthy Smith and covers (-6).

This article is featured at CFBPlace—Kentucky @ Tennessee