Good morning, folks! Are we nervous yet? I already woke up in an anxious sweat. It’s not all that often the nation’s top-ranked team comes into Rupp Arena (2019 was the last time, a 27-point smacking of the Volunteers), but that will be the setting in Lexington this afternoon. Bruce Pearl brings his No. 1 Auburn Tigers (and National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome) to town today.

There isn’t a better way to kick off the start of March Madness than this. As Jon Rothstein would say, we sleep in May.

Auburn is the country’s top-ranked team for a reason. The Tigers boast KenPom’s best offense and the 12th-best defense. Six of the seven rotational players average double-figures in scoring, powered by Broome’s 18.8 points per outing. This is a deeply experienced, veteran group with very few weaknesses. Kentucky will need a near-perfect showing to pull off the upset. KenPom and BartTorvik both project Auburn to win 86-81. FanDuel has the Tigers as 5.5-point favorites, despite Auburn not having won inside Rupp Arena since 1988.

But if we’ve learned anything about Mark Pope in his first season coaching the Wildcats, it’s that he can pull off wins against any level of opponent. He’ll have to do so without starting guard Jaxson Robinson though, who was ruled out in last night’s SEC Availabilty Report as he recovers from his wrist injury. But everyone else (aside from Kerr Kriisa, of course) expects to suit up against Auburn. Pope will need a complete team effort today to take down Auburn. Keep in mind that the Tigers’ two losses this season came against Duke and Florida — two teams Kentucky has already beaten.

Regardless of the final score, I’m expecting a fun and tight game from start to finish. While you wait for tipoff, dive into our pregame content below, along with the rest of this morning’s news and notes.

No. 17 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Auburn: How to Watch, Listen

• Date, Time: Saturday, 1:00 p.m. EST
• Television: ABC (Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 84 or 191
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tip-off, or join the conversation on KSBoard

Baseball/Softball in action again today

Both the Kentucky baseball and softball teams are in action throughout the weekend.

Baseball opened up its first home series of the 2025 season Friday . Despite some unusual errors and mishaps from the Bat Cats, UK held of Hofstra’s ninth inning comeback attempt. Nick Mingione’s squad (7-1) will be back out at the Kentucky Proud Park diamond this afternoon for the second game of the weekend. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM EST on the SEC Network+. KSR’s Daniel Hager will be on the scene to provide live updates.