Oakland vs Kentucky Odds, Pick
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We have a very interesting 3-14 matchup on our hands between Kentucky and Oakland.
These two coaches have a combined 71 years of college coaching, which is a record for an NCAA tournament matchup.
Kentucky will need John Calipari’s expertise to guide this extremely young but very talented team.
For Oakland, Greg Kampe will be relaying to his boys that they have nothing to lose against a blue blood.
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The Golden Grizzlies find themselves in the NCAA tournament by way of winning both the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles.
Forward Trey Townsend is a matchup problem for any team. He leads the Golden Grizzlies in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
This is Oakland’s fourth NCAA tournament appearance under Kampe, with its only win coming in a First Four game back in 2005.
This year’s Oakland squad can pull off an upset. The Golden Grizzlies are extremely balanced, as they rank between 119th and 140th in effective field goal percentage, 2-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage.
Although these numbers don’t jump off the page, these are national rankings, making them very solid for a mid-major team.
Oakland’s path to success is to control the pace on the offensive end.
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Kentucky’s postseason woes have already returned, as it lost to Texas A&M as eight-point favorites in the SEC tournament.
The last two NCAA tournament appearances have gone rather poorly for Kentucky. In 2022, the Wildcats lost to 15-seed Saint Peter’s in the first round, while last year saw another early exit at the hands of Kansas State in the second round.
What will 2024 bring? Can Kentucky make the second weekend?
Kentucky is clearly the better team in this matchup, but it’s young and inexperienced. The Wildcats need to keep the pace up, which is what it does best.
If the Wildcats let Oakland dictate the pace and stop them in transition, the Cats will be in trouble.
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Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and DJ Wagner Jr. are the most talented young stars in the game, and all three play for Kentucky.
The X-factor, though, needs to be senior Antonio Reeves. Reeves is the veteran of this bunch and was around last year during UK’s early exit.
I don’t expect Calipari to slip up for a third consecutive season, and this will start in the Round of 64 with a statement win against Oakland. The Wildcats will keep the pace up and lean on transition scoring.
Besides that, they’ll have a massive size advantage.
Pick: Kentucky -13.5
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