After a stunning end to his time in Lexington, John Calipari makes his return to Rupp Arena on Saturday night as the head coach of Arkansas. The Hogs are struggling mightily this season, at just 1-6 in SEC play, including 1-6 ATS in those games. Arkansas’ lone win required a huge comeback at home against Georgia, just barely pulling the game out. Calipari’s squad has also been poor away from home, going 0-4 ATS in true road games, and 1-3 ATS on neutral floors.
Saturday night should present the most hostile environment Arkansas will see all season, as the Kentucky faithful will make their feelings towards Coach Cal pretty clear. While the Hogs are struggling to put the pieces together with a new roster, Mark Pope has his newly constructed roster gelling at Kentucky.
The Wildcats are off a win at Tennessee as double-digit underdogs, playing without starting point guard Lamont Butler. Kentucky is 11-1 on its home floor this season, and offers a very deep roster with a variety of skillsets. Most notably, the Wildcats feature several sharpshooters from downtown, and they take the deep ball at a high volume. That’ll leave Arkansas in trouble here, as the far inferior shooting team.
While Kentucky has all the edges on the court, and truly in the coaching department as well, the spot does set up well for Arkansas as a double-digit dog. While Kentucky went on the road for a huge game at Tennessee this week, Arkansas hasn’t played since last Saturday, and has been able to focus all its energy into game planning for this one. The betting splits on DK Network indicate sharper action to Arkansas in this one, likely due to the spot being better. That said, I have a hard time seeing Kentucky dropping this game outright.
I’ve yet to make a play on the game, but if I had to predict it, I’ll take the Wildcats to win in a game the Hogs cover.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.
