Kentucky vs. Tennessee: Game Preview, Prediction

The Tennessee Volunteers were blown out in Knoxville by the LSU Tigers in their worst performance of the season, but will not have time to regroup, as next up are the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky will travel to Thompson Boling Arena to face the Vols on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Kentucky remains undefeated with an impressive 25-0 record, and dominated their last opponents, the South Carolina Gamecocks, 77-43. However, this may be the last real chance that the Wildcats have at losing in regular season play.

It sounds crazy to say that the Wildcats might be on upset alert against Tennessee, but Knoxville is a notoriously tough place to play for the top teams in the SEC. Last time that Kentucky traveled to TBA, the Wildcats lost by 30 points, and it’s important to remember that Tennessee’s star senior, Josh Richardson, is due a great offensive game against the Wildcats after never scoring more than six points in their previous meetings.

Of their six road games this season, they have struggled in four of them, and after their dominating performance over the Gamecocks, Kentucky could legitimately overlook a highly underrated Vols team away from home. John Calipari is not above leaving in struggling players in order to teach them a lesson before tournament time, as we saw when it nearly cost the Wildcats a the game against LSU.

Donnie Tyndall’s defense stops other teams from getting comfortable, which has shown in their upsets over the Butler Bulldogs and Arkansas Razorbacks. What this team lacks in inside size, they make up for in getting steals and forcing turnovers, meaning that Kentucky must take care of the ball and dominate inside.

That being said, the Wildcats are the best team in the nation. Tennessee will fight hard and surprise a lot of people with how close this game will be, but I doubt the Vols can upset the future national champions, even in Knoxville. Calipari and co. should continue to roll over conference opponents en route to at least a Final Four berth.

Prediction: Kentucky 64, Tennessee 58

Taylor Sturm is a Featured Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.