Andy Katz selects the Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry as his “Game of the Week.”
This Saturday promises to be a big one for college basketball, feeling almost like an early version of March Madness. ESPN’s BPI game ratings, which measure game quality, list nine matchups scoring over 80 points. For context, Kentucky’s showdown with Gonzaga was rated a 96, showing just how stacked the schedule is for fans this weekend.
Basketball analyst Andy Katz has highlighted ten must-watch games, and his top pick? The heated Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry. The Wildcats are set to face their in-state foes, a matchup that’s always intense. However, the game may not reach its full potential with Louisville not at full strength—nor Kentucky, which remains without backup point guard Kerr Kriisa.
The Cardinals are down two of their best players: star transfer guard Koren Johnson, who came from the University of Washington, and arguably their best player, Kasean Pryor, who is one of their bigs. The fact that it’s a rivalry may propel it forward to being a tough battle regardless. These teams want to beat each other so badly that Louisville will be ready.
While it will be a great game, it’s not even among the nine top-ranked games according to ESPN BPI. It is scored at 79.1. According to analytics, it will be the 10th-best game of the day. Katz has it way higher due to the nature of the game, but there could be more exciting games on the day.
According to ESPN, Gonzaga vs. UCONN is the top game of the day. It scores 96.5, followed by Tennessee vs. Illinois at 96.1, and UCLA vs. Arizona in third, scoring 90.6. It will certainly be an exciting day of basketball, and Kentucky vs. Louisville is the game to watch, according to Katz.
