NCAA Tournament Betting Odds: Kentucky vs. Princeton

No. 13 Princeton will face No. 4 Kentucky this Thursday March 17th, 2011 at St. Petes Times Forum.

The Wildcats had their way with an Ivy League team in the second round of last year’s tourney (beat Cornell 62-45) but the feeling here is the KY Jelly factory will more likely be zoned in on ‘West by God’ and a second round matchup with WVU as the Mountaineers upset the ‘Cats in last year’s Elite 8. Calipari and company shouldn’t look too far ahead.

In four years under HC Sydney Johnson, a former Ivy League Player of the Year for the Tigers in 1997, Princeton is 57-37-2 ATS. And when the opponent arrives off a SU and ATS win, that numbers tightens to 21-8 ATS, including 5-0 ATS as a dog of more than seven points. Rest assured, these Tigers will not be intimidated. And speaking of rest, Princeton is 18-2 SU and 16-2 ATS over its last 20 games when having three or more days to ‘study’ an opponent, including 5-0 ATS when taking points.

And while we realize that Ivy Leaguers are only 6-13 ATS in opening-round play, a closer inspection by our database shows them 5-2 ATS off a SU win (1-11 ATS off a SU loss).
With Kentucky HC John Calipari a nonchalant 5-8 ATS in first-round affairs, Princeton becomes the smart play. A solid take.

Kentucky is 13.5 point favorites at betED sportsbook.

A few Tigers at Wildcats trends to consider:
Kentucky is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kentucky's last 5 games