ESPN predicts the winner between Kentucky and Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament

Can the Kentucky Wildcats take down the Oklahoma Sooners in Nashville?

Feb 26, 2025; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope gestures to his team during a play against the Oklahoma Sooners during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to get things kicked off in the SEC Tournament, and their first opponent will be the Oklahoma Sooners.

These two teams met two weeks ago in Norman, and the Wildcats won an 83-82 thriller thanks to a buzzer-beater from the former Sooner Otega Oweh. In this win, Oweh had 28 points single-handedly, guiding this Kentucky team to a victory in what was a must-win game.

There was a lot of back-and-forth chatting going on between these two teams when the game went final, so it will be interesting to see how the Wildcats and Sooners greet one another in Nashville.

Jalon Moore and Jeremiah Fears are the two players to watch for the Wildcats. These two combined to score 38 points in the first matchup between these two teams, so defending them well is priority number one for the Wildcats.

Oweh is going to play well, knowing he will be highly motivated against his former squad, but it would be great to see Koby Brea have a good night shooting the ball. The first time these two teams met, Brea scored nine points on 3-10 shooting from the field and 1-6 from three.

ESPN gives the Wildcats an 71.1% chance to win this game in a highly anticipated rematch with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Kentucky will likely draw a big crowd on Thursday night as Big Blue Nation always travels well for the SEC Tournament. The Wildcats want to win the entire thing, but to do this, they will have to beat Oklahoma on Thursday evening.