Alabama’s loss to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in Rupp Arena opens the door for Tennessee to take the driver’s seat in the SEC standings. The Wildcats nearly hit 120 points in regulation with a 117-95 win over the Crimson Tide in Lexington.
Kentucky freshman Justin Edwards scored a career-high 28 points while the Wildcats also received a 24-point game from Antonio Reeves and an 18-point game from Zvonimir Ivisic. Alabama, meanwhile, had plenty of scoring themselves in replacement of defense against Kentucky.
Alabama had six double-digit scorers on Saturday including 21 from Rylan Griffen and 20 from Mark Sears.
Alabama’s loss in the afternoon slate sets up Tennessee with a big opportunity on Saturday night. The Crimson Tide currently sit atop the SEC standings with an 11-3 conference record after the loss. Tennessee, meanwhile, has a 10-3 conference record going into the night game against Texas A&M from Knoxville.
If Tennessee can beat the Aggies in the Food City Center, both Tennessee and Alabama will be tied at the top of the rankings with an 11-3 conference record. The Crimson Tide’s loss to Tennessee in Knoxville on January 20 would give the Volunteers the tiebreaker.
More from RTI: No. 5 Tennessee vs. Texas A&M: How To Watch, Prediction, Complete Preview
There’s still a lot of important games remaining on the schedule, though, including a game between Tennessee and Alabama next Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. Following the Texas A&M game, Tennessee will close down the regular season with four straight Top 25 games: vs No. 14 Auburn, at No. 13 Alabama, at No. 20 South Carolina, and vs No. 17 Kentucky.
Tennessee controls their own destiny heading down the regular season stretch but it won’t be an easy path in the SEC gauntlet.
It all starts with Saturday night’s critical SEC matchup between the Texas A&M Aggies and the 5th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers from Knoxville.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider throughout the night and the week for more updates on the tight race in the SEC as the season begins to wind down.
