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The Kentucky Wildcats are on the road this week for an SEC clash with the cross-division rival Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Both teams already have two losses this season as they enter this matchup looking to keep their division title hopes alive. The Cats are coming off a narrow 30-27 loss to the Auburn Tigers last week. The Bulldogs made easy work of Louisiana Tech en route to a 45-20 victory.
Neither team has blown away the competition though when it comes to conference play. The average margin of difference in UK's four SEC games has been a mere five points with losses of just five points to the Florida Gators and three points to Auburn. As for MSU, their only home loss this season was a 21-19 defeat at the hands of the No. 5 LSU Tigers. the Bulldogs also suffered a 30-17 defeat at Texas A&M.
MSU and UK will be meeting this week for the 43rd time in a series that dates back to 1914. The series is tied 21-21, with the Bulldogs leading the series in Starkville, 12-9. The Bulldogs have won all six meetings in the series since head coach Dan Mullen was hired in 2009. UK’s last win in the series came in 2008 in Starkville, 14-13. Wildcat great and current Packers star receiver Randall Cobb had a passing and rushing TD in that win.
Here is everything you'll need to watch and follow this game.
Kentucky Wildcats (4-2, 2-2 in SEC) at Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-2, 2-2 in SEC)
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST Saturday
Where: Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss.
TV Info and Channel: The game is on the SEC Network with Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer on the call with Maria Taylor on the sideline. That's DirecTV channel 611, Dish 408, U-Verse 607, Time Warner Cable 76/796 in Lexington, and FiOs 75/575.
Radio: Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro and Dick Gabriel (sideline) will have the call on 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington. It's also available on satellite radio (XM 190 and Sirius 83) and online at UKathleticsgameday.com/football. Here is a list of radio affiliates around the state.
Live Online Stream: Watch ESPN and the Watch ESPN app.
Replay: SEC Network on Oct. 26 at 7:30 a.m. EST; Oct. 27 at 12 p.m. EST, Oct. 29 at 3 a.m. EST
Odds: MSU is an 11.5-point favorite with an over/under of 56.5, according to Odds Shark.
Prediction: This is a game UK badly needs while MSU sort of needs. The Bulldogs have little hope of winning the SEC West with LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss (for now anyways) ahead of them. The SEC East is far more up for grabs though, and UK can ill-afford to lose this game if they want to remain in the running for it.
In reality, contending for the East crown, even in a down year for the division, it's a fair goal for a UK program that's still recovering from the Joker years. They've got the starting talent to go head-to-head with the Bulldogs, but they still aren't quite deep enough to win a four-quarter game against a team of this caliber.
The Cats put up a good fight, but come up just short as Missippi State escapes with a 27-20 win.