SEC Championship: Mississippi State vs. Kentucky Odds & Pick: March 14th 2010

Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Kentucky Wildcats
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One of the few bubble teams left in the country will take part in what could be an all-or-nothing college basketball betting battle on Sunday afternoon in Nashville when the Mississippi State Bulldogs (23-10, 15-12-1 ATS) face the Kentucky Wildcats (31-2, 17-14 ATS). Thanks to the shrinking bubble on Saturday, the Dawgs may need to win this game to get into the field of 65, just like Washington did against California in Saturday’s Pac-10 Championship. Kentucky probably doesn’t have much of anything to play for, as it already knows that it is going to be a #1 seed in either the South or East Region of the dance.

The Bulldogs have used a fantastic defense to get to this point in the tournament. They have taken out Florida 75-69 and Vanderbilt 62-52 to reach this point in the SEC Tournament. F Jarvis Varnado is coming off of one of the best games he has played all season long. The team’s leading scorer at 13.4 points per game, Varnado is also the team’s best defensive player. He only scored 11 points and brought in nine rebounds on Saturday against the Commodores, but he also blocked a whopping six shots in the ‘W’.

The moral of the story that we learned in watch the Wildcats on Saturday is that you don’t want to play this team after losing to it. UK got revenge on South Carolina earlier this year by winning 82-61 at home, and followed that up by avenging a February 27th loss at Tennessee by crushing the Volunteers 74-45. It was almost a complete effort for HC John Calipari’s team, but the perfectionist in him will hate the fact that his team turned the ball over 17 times and shot just 16/30 from the free throw line. The Cats outrebounded the boys from Rocky Top 40-26, thanks in large part to F DeMarcus Cousins’ 15 boards. He also led the team in scoring with 19 points.

Mississippi State pushed the Wildcats to the brink on February 16th, losing in overtime 81-75 in Starkville in the only meeting of these two teams on the season. The Bulldogs had won the three previous NCAA basketball wagering wars of these squads, going 2-1 ATS in those three.

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