ESPN predicts the winner between Kentucky and Oklahoma

The Kentucky Wildcats responded in a major way on Saturday night by getting one of the biggest wins of the Mark Pope era on the road against Arkansas, who was ranked No. 15 at the time. Pope's team has now won six of their last seven games, looking to carry the momentum from their big win over the Razorbacks as they return to Rupp Arena to host the Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday night.

Kentucky basketball had one of their worst performances of the year last week in a 25-point loss to Vandy, but they responded well when they took on Arkansas. It what was an uncharacteristic performance by the Wildcats, they actually started the game hot, which has not been the case to this point in any of their road games and a very rare sight to see overall this season. But, they did, setting the tone at the start of the game, which ended up boding well late in the game when things looked like they might go sideways. It helped so much, that it forced Arkansas to play catch-up. The Razorbacks led for just three minutes of the entire game and it was a moment where Kentucky's resiliency showed in a big way in the second half.

Now, they turn their attention to Oklahoma, who has been the worst team in the SEC through nine games so far. Head coach Porter Mosier and his Sooners are entering Wednesday's game with a 1-9 record in the conference, their lone win coming against Ole Miss in a 16-point win at the start of SEC play on Jan. 3. Since then, it has been a very rough stretch of basketball for Oklahoma. Their most-recent loss was a 10-point loss at home to Texas, but they came close to stealing two wins right before that game. The Sooners took Missouri to overtime in a one-point loss on the road before then falling to Arkansas 83-79 on the comfort of their home court.

Kentucky Wildcats players return to the court after a timeout during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks. — Jan 31, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Kentucky Wildcats players return to the court after a timeout during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Kentucky won 85-77. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

As Kentucky prepares to take care of business in the return to their home court, ESPN is giving the Wildcats an 80.7 percent chance to come away with the victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. This one is a matchup that Kentucky should honestly have no troubles with given how much the Sooners have struggled in SEC play, ranking as the worst team in the conference right now. Aside from all of the things that Oklahoma struggles with, they feed off of three-point shooting as well as defense from beyond the arc, but they have rarely found success obviously, as you can tell from their record.

If Kentucky continues to stay aggressive on both offense and defense, they should have no problem leaving Rupp Arena with the win on Wednesday.