{"id":99735,"date":"2019-03-02T02:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T10:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=99735"},"modified":"2019-03-02T06:01:40","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T14:01:40","slug":"kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Rivalry Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend marks the next-to-last regular season weekend for most major college basketball<\/a> conferences, but there\u2019s only one game that features two teams ranked in the Associated Press\u2019 Top 25 poll.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kentucky forward Reid Travis splits a pair of Tennessee defenders in last month’s win in Lexington. The Wildcats, however, are likely to be without the graduate transfer, who sprained his right knee in a game against Missouri on Feb. 19 and has been out ever since. (Image: UK Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, boy, is that game a big one.<\/p>\n

Fourth-ranked Kentucky (24-4) travels down to Knoxville on Saturday afternoon to play No. 7 Tennessee (25-3) in a game that may go a long way in determining who possibly gets one of the four number-one seeds when the NCAA Tournament<\/a> tips off in less than three weeks. Both teams are tied with Louisiana State atop the Southeastern Conference standings at 13-2, but Kentucky already holds a victory over the Volunteers.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats, who enter Saturday\u2019s game on a four-game winning streak, beat Tennessee 86-69 in Lexington two weeks ago. However, initial odds for Saturday show Tennessee a 2.5-point favorite, according to point spreads on VegasInsider.com.<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  • The teams are among the most popular picks to win the national title. Sportsbook.AG has Kentucky as its fourth choice at 8-1, while Tennessee is among three teams at the next tier with 12-1 odds. Fan Duel lists Kentucky at +1100, also its fourth choice, and Tennessee is listed at +1700, tied for seventh on the board.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

    Tip-off is scheduled for 2 pm ET, and the game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.<\/p>\n

    Kentucky Star Doubtful for Rematch<\/h2>\n

    Tennessee may be favored because the Volunteers are playing at home. However, another reason for the spread may be due to Kentucky likely being without a key player.<\/p>\n

    Graduate transfer Reid Travis scored 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the win two weeks ago, and the former Stanford player was the Wildcats best defensive player that night. But he sprained his right knee in the following game at Missouri and has been out since.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Kentucky coach John Calipari told reporters on Friday that the team would evaluate Travis\u2019 knee and determine if he could play. However, the UK coach said it would be unlikely they\u2019d try to rush back a player considered to be key for a title run.<\/p>\n

    What kids try to do is convince you that they can do this,\u201d <\/strong>Calipari said. \u201cMy whole thing (is) this is about the long season, not the short season. This will be a hard game whether he plays or not.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Physical Matchup Expected Saturday<\/h2>\n

    The Volunteers were top-ranked team in the country when they lost two weeks ago, and Kentucky players know the rematch will be a hard-fought battle.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThey\u2019re always going to fight,\u201d Wildcats forward P.J. Washington told reporters on Friday. \u201cSo, I just love games when it\u2019s physical like that. We\u2019re going into a competitive environment and just trying to get a win. That\u2019s the best thing if we can beat them on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

    After the Volunteers beat Mississippi 73-71 on Wednesday, Grant Williams said he thinks the UK game will be a physical battle. He also said that while the Volunteers have title aspirations, they know they can\u2019t look too far ahead.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s one game at a time,\u201d said Williams, who hit the game-winning shot with :03 left to beat Ole Miss. \u201cYou can\u2019t look at it any other way. You just got to focus on today and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This weekend marks the next-to-last regular season weekend for most major college basketball conferences, but there\u2019s only one game that features two teams ranked in the Associated Press\u2019 Top 25 poll. But, boy, is that game a big one. Fourth-ranked Kentucky (24-4) travels down to Knoxville on Saturday afternoon to play No. 7 Tennessee (25-3) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":99737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKentucky vs. Tennessee Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In weekend college basketball action, Kentucky travels to Tennessee this weekend. In a game that could help decide seedings for this month\u2019s NCAA Tournament, the visiting Wildcats may be without a key player.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In weekend college basketball action, Kentucky travels to Tennessee this weekend. In a game that could help decide seedings for this month\u2019s NCAA Tournament, the visiting Wildcats may be without a key player.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-02T10:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-02T14:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/\",\"name\":\"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-02T10:00:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-02T14:01:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"In weekend college basketball action, Kentucky travels to Tennessee this weekend. In a game that could help decide seedings for this month\u2019s NCAA Tournament, the visiting Wildcats may be without a key player.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Kentucky forward Reid Travis splits a pair of Tennessee defenders in last month's win in Lexington. The Wildcats, however, are likely to be without the graduate transfer, who sprained his right knee in a game against Missouri on Feb. 19 and has been out ever since. (Image: UK Athletics)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sports\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Rivalry Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\",\"name\":\"Steve Bittenbender\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Steve Bittenbender\"},\"description\":\"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action","description":"In weekend college basketball action, Kentucky travels to Tennessee this weekend. In a game that could help decide seedings for this month\u2019s NCAA Tournament, the visiting Wildcats may be without a key player.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action","og_description":"In weekend college basketball action, Kentucky travels to Tennessee this weekend. In a game that could help decide seedings for this month\u2019s NCAA Tournament, the visiting Wildcats may be without a key player.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-03-02T10:00:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-02T14:01:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Bittenbender","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Bittenbender","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/","name":"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-02T10:00:57+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-02T14:01:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2"},"description":"In weekend college basketball action, Kentucky travels to Tennessee this weekend. In a game that could help decide seedings for this month\u2019s NCAA Tournament, the visiting Wildcats may be without a key player.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Reid-Travis.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"caption":"Kentucky forward Reid Travis splits a pair of Tennessee defenders in last month's win in Lexington. The Wildcats, however, are likely to be without the graduate transfer, who sprained his right knee in a game against Missouri on Feb. 19 and has been out ever since. (Image: UK Athletics)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-v-tennessee-highlights-weekend-college-basketball-action\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sports","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Kentucky vs. Tennessee Rivalry Highlights Weekend College Basketball Action"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2","name":"Steve Bittenbender","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","caption":"Steve Bittenbender"},"description":"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}