Georgia Bulldogs vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 02/17/2026

Game Time: 9:00 pm ET, Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Venue:  Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Georgia +9.5, Kentucky -9.5; Over/Under:  164.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Georgia +9.5, Kentucky -9.5; Over/Under:  164.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Georgia +9.5, Kentucky -9.5; Over/Under:  164.5 points

Georgia Bulldogs:  17-8 (5-7) (10th place, SEC)

Kentucky Wildcats:  17-8 (8-4) (6th place, SEC)

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Georgia Bulldogs:  1-4  last 5

Kentucky Wildcats:  3-2  last 5

Georgia is entering this game with a 17-8 record overall, a 5-7 record in conference games, and they are 4-3 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are coming off a loss against the Oklahoma Sooners in their last game. Blue Cain led the team in points in that game with 20 while Marcus Millender was next on the team with 16. Marcus Millender led the team in assists with 5 in that game while Blue Cain led the team in rebounds with 5. They were 51.7% from the field, 28.6% from 3-point range, and 71.4% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 90.3 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 78.4 PPG against them. Georgia has an ATS record of 10-14-1 this season and their O/U record is 12-13.

Kentucky is entering this game with a 17-8 record overall, an 8-4 conference record, and they are 13-2 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are coming off a loss against the Florida Gators in their last game. Denzel Aberdeen led the team in points in that game with 19 while Collin Chandler was next on the team with 18. Denzel Aberdeen led the team in assists with 4 in that game while Malachi Moreno led the team in rebounds with 11. They were 43.1% from the field, 45% from 3-point range, and 72% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 81.6 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 72.2 PPG against them. Kentucky has an ATS record of 12-13 this season and their O/U record is 12-13.

The current betting odds have Kentucky listed as a 9.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Kentucky has looked good in their games this season with their 17-8 record overall and their 8-4 conference record which has them in the top half of the ACC. They have looked great on their home court too with their 13-2 home record this season. Meanwhile, Georgia has looked good in their games this season with their 17-8 record overall, but their 5-7 conference record has them in the bottom half of the SEC. They have been a good road team though with their 4-3 road record this year. As good as they have looked in road games this year, they haven't looked great lately with 2 losses in their last 3 and that only win being against a terrible LSU team. They haven't looked that great lately either, going 1-4 in their last 5 games and coming off a double digit road loss to Oklahoma in their last one. They had a great start to the season and were even ranked inside the top 25 early on, but they have fallen off since then and lately the wheels have been coming off. Kentucky has been the opposite though, starting the season with a lot of trouble, but working through that as they look like a top team in the conference this year. They are off a road loss to Florida in their last one, but they are still 3-2 in their last 5 games and Florida is a team that is starting to separate themselves at the top of the SEC. Kentucky has been getting into a groove lately though while things have been falling apart for Georgia, so look for Kentucky to bounce back at home with a big win where they have looked so much better this season. The best way to place a bet here is on Kentucky to cover the spread in this game. 

Georgia Kentucky Prediction:  Our NCAAB Pick for Tuesday, February 17, 2026 (9:00 pm ET start time) is Kentucky 82 Georgia 68.

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Georgia Bulldogs: 19-10 ATS in road games. 6-2 ATS after a loss by 15 points or more. 34-27 ATS versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing 14 turnovers/game or less. 10-5 UNDER versus very good teams - outscoring their opponents by 8+ points/game. 5-2 UNDER versus good foul drawing teams - attempting 25 free throws/game or more.

Kentucky Wildcats: 3-8 ATS versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game. 2-5 ATS at home versus good foul drawing teams - attempting 25 free throws/game or more. 34-18 OVER in all home games. 8-4 OVER versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game.

Georgia Bulldogs:  J. Wilkinson (G) Questionable - Shoulder.

Kentucky Wildcats:  B. Hawthorne (F) Out - Redshirt. K. Williams (G) Out - Foot. J. Lowe (G) Out - Undisclosed. J. Quaintance (F) Questionable - Knee.

"A step late to a couple of those threes. Early second half, they got it going. Their crowd got involved. All of a sudden, they picked it up a little bit defensively. We made a couple of substitutions. We had a couple of really poor offensive possessions that led to some open threes for them in transition, and that was it. That was it. Never got into a rhythm defensively. The entire game did a very poor job defending the three. In our guy's defense and in Oklahoma's credit, they're incredibly difficult to defend with sometimes four elite shooters on the court with a rim roller and sometimes five high-level shooters when they play a certain lineup. Then you've got Tae Davis, who can make shots, of course, but he's as good of an isolation player as there is probably in our league. They had it going. Number 22 off the bench. I don't remember a performance like that in a long time, and I can't even think of when that would have been. Where a guy made that big of an impact in less than 17 minutes on the game. He makes six threes. He shoots seven, and all seven, if I remember correctly, were heavily contested. He made some big shots, and they they're good offensively. They really space you. Obviously, Nigel Pack, he scored a lot of points throughout his career. We're not that bad defensively. We all know that they had it really going offensively today." - Mike White after his team’s loss against Oklahoma in their last game. 

"Credit Florida. I felt like we got the stops we needed down the stretch. We (just) couldn't grab a rebound, which is exactly what they do." - Mark Pope after his team’s loss against Florida in their last game. 

B. Cain 

K. Catchings 

S. Cyril 

J. Ross 

J. Wilkinson

D. Aberdeen 

C. Chandler 

A. Jelavic 

M. Moreno 

O. Oweh

PPG: Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.1)

APG: Marcus Millender (3.7)

Reb/G: Somtochukwu Cyril (5.5)

PPG: Otega Oweh (17)

APG: Denzel Aberdeen (3.2)

Reb/G: Malachi Moreno (6.4)

Coaches:

Georgia Bulldogs: Michael White (4th season)

Kentucky Wildcats: Mark Pope (2nd season)