The Kentucky Wildcats and Troy Trojans face off in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in what will be a benchmark game for Kentucky’s first-year head coach Mark Pope. The Wildcats haven’t made the Sweet 16 since the 2018-19 season and will want a strong showing after being embarrassed by Oakland in the first round last year. Will they avoid another first-round exit in this Kentucky vs Troy matchup?
Below, we will preview this March Madness college basketball game, giving the Kentucky vs Troy overview, trends and our expert pick! Which school will win and keep their hopes of winning the championship trophy alive?
CLICK HERE for new ways to fill out your March Madness bracket!
Kentucky vs Troy Prediction and March Madness Expert Picks
2025 NCAA Tournament
No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats (22-11) vs. No. 14 Troy Trojans (23-10)
Date: Friday, March 21, 2025
Time: 7:10 PM EST
Venue: Fiserv Forum — Milwaukee, WI
Coverage: CBS
Get your printable March Madness bracket
Kentucky vs Troy March Madness Odds
All college basketball betting odds for Kentucky vs Troy can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: UK: (-750) | TROY: (+525)
Point Spread: UK: -11.5 (-105) | TROY: +11.5 (-115)
Total: 151.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
KenPom Rankings | Bracketology
KenPom Rankings are from KenPom.com
| Team | Rk | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT |
| Kentucky | 16 | 123.8 (9) | 99.7 (57) | 71.1 (23) |
| Troy | 94 | 107.8 (152) | 100.6 (68) | 66.4 (229) |
Kentucky vs Troy College Basketball Trends
- Kentucky is 3-2 in its last five games.
- Troy is 5-0 in its last five games.
- Kentucky is 12-3 in non-conference play this season.
- Troy is 10-5 in non-conference play this season.
- Kentucky has won just one of its last three first round games.
- Troy is 0-6 in school history in Division I postseason tournaments with a 0-2 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky vs Troy Prediction | March Madness Expert Picks
Kentucky came into this season with a new head coach and an entirely new roster after former coach John Calipari took most of Kentucky’s roster with him to Arkansas. Even with everything stacked against him, head coach Mark Pope has done an excellent job making this team as successful in the regular season as in years past. The one issue past Kentucky teams have had as of late has been finding success in the NCAA Tournament. While this Wildcats team can also be inconsistent, they are as deep as they have been in quite some time, with six players averaging double-digit points. The Wildcats are lethal from three and should be able to score at will.
While Troy does deserve some respect for scheduling some tough games earlier this season, they didn’t look very good in any of them. They lost all three games at Arkansas, Oregon and Houston by 16, 21 and 20 points, respectively. In all of those games, the Trojans struggled mightily to shoot the ball (under 16% from deep in all three games). For Troy to have any chance, they need to get their threes to fall.
Kentucky has been upset in the past, but a heck of a lot would have to go right for Troy to even be able to keep this game within single digits.
For our Kentucky vs Troy prediction, we are picking the Kentucky Wildcats to win and move on in the NCAA Tournament.
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok for more great FlurrySports content.
