ESPN Analytics predicts second round outcome between Kentucky and Iowa State
By Jacob Moss
Published:
After a thrilling first-round victory on Friday, the Kentucky Wildcats are now set for a pivotal test in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the No. 2-seeded Iowa State Cyclones as they look to reach their second straight Sweet 16 appearance under head coach Mark Pope.
The Cats narrowly escaped the Santa Clara Broncos in Round 1, thanks in no small part to an insane buzzer-beating 3-point heave at the end of regulation from senior guard Otega Oweh, while Iowa State cruised past Tennessee State to set up this classic 7 vs. 2 seed second-round showdown.
ESPN analytics recently released their prediction for how things will play out between the Wildcats and Cyclones in anticipation of the massive Big 12 vs. SEC matchup, and the model isn’t too big on Kentucky.
According to ESPN’s model, the Cats have a 29.4% chance to pull off the upset against Iowa State, which has a 70.6% chance of advancing to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the past 5 seasons.
There’s no denying that the Cyclones have been the better team this year, as they finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and made it all the way to the Big 12 tournament semi-finals before falling to eventual champions Arizona 82-80.
Kentucky, on the other hand, has had a very up-and-down campaign by comparison as they struggled to get past the top squads in their own league and finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC.
If Pope, Oweh, and the rest of the Wildcats want to make it to the second weekend this March, then they will have to find a new level of play that has eluded them thus far.
