The Kentucky Wildcats are off to an unspectacular start. Head coach John Calipari continues to recruit at an elite level. Yet, he has only one College Basketball odds national championship for all his efforts. Calipari has a well-balanced team and a marquee star in Oscar Tshiebwe. But the expectations in Lexington are perfection and national championships. Thus, even Calipari, with a lifetime contract, feels the constant heat of Big Blue nation. Kentucky fans think that Calipari is underachieving. Many gamblers agree.
2022-23 Kentucky Wildcats
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Kentucky Wildcats National Championship Odds at SBG: | +1400 |
2022-23 Kentucky Wildcats SBG Odds Overview
Overall, Kentucky is 9-4 straight up, 4-8-1 against the spread, and 7-6 over/under the offshore betting total. Kentucky has national rankings of 46th for scoring offense, 73rd for field goal percentage, 15th for 3-point field goal percentage, 314th for free throw percentage, and 14th for offensive rebounding. While defensively, Kentucky has national rankings of 115th for scoring defense, 89th for field goal percentage permitted, 188th for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 31st for defensive rebounding.
Kentucky has drowned gamblers in red ink with no payouts in its most recent seven games. Namely, Oscar Tshiebwe stars with 16.5 points and 13.6 rebounds per contest.
2022-23 Kentucky Team Analysis
Kentucky Wildcats basketball fans are running out of patience in Year 14 of the John Calipari era. And it’s safe to say his program has never had a perturbation like this. Of course, Calipari crushed the summer NCAABB betting recruiting cycle. Overall, he had one of the best offseasons in the sport. That’s become common practice for Kentucky basketball.
However, the Wildcats are coming off a season that ended with the ultimate sour taste, a first-round NCAA Tournament defeat at the hands of 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s. It marked just the second time since 1987 that Kentucky failed to make it out of the first round of the Big Dance. Of course, anything can happen in the tournament. Following a season that saw the Wildcats go 9-16, this program and its passionate fan base feel due for a deep March run. Certainly, Kentucky can win it all this year. And the biggest reason for that is that the best player in college hoops resides in Lexington. The Cats welcome back reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe. After averaging 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds per game in 2021-22, anything seems possible for Tshiebwe in his senior season?
Accordingly, it bears noting that Tshiebwe’s return is not only awesome for Kentucky. Most important of all, it is an example of what NIL can mean for college basketball. Tshiebwe can stay in the sport and profit more off his name at the collegiate level than he would potentially by going pro.
The Kentucky Wildcats are the most successful college basketball program in history. That is in terms of all-time wins and all-time winning percentages. Additionally, the Wildcats lead all schools with 59 NCAA Tournament appearances and 131 Big Dance wins. Also, UK has 184 March Madness games played, 45 Sweet Sixteen appearances, 38 Elite Eight appearances, and 53 conference championships. Kentucky ranks third behind the North Carolina Tar Heels and UCLA Bruins with 17 Final Fours. On the whole, the Wildcats have eight national titles. With all of that going for them, it will be a shocker if Kentucky misses the postseason in 2022-23.