It’s one thing to be confident in Kentucky winning football games this fall. It’s another to bet the Wildcats to cover the spread.
The Kentucky Wildcats are coming off back-to-back 7 win seasons. However, Mark Stoops and Co. have been the worst team against the spread in the country over the past 5 seasons.
Stoops is just 24-36 ATS over his first 5 seasons as the Wildcats’ head coach. He is one game below former Texas A&M and current Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin, who is 24-35-1 ATS.
What exactly does this mean? Well, it depends. If you’ve gambled on Kentucky over the last few years, you might be a little less content than your non-gambling counterparts.
However, in terms of performance and wins, it means absolutely nothing. A win’s a win, and it just so happens Kentucky wins the majority of games it’s favored in
As KSR notes, Kentucky has a 19-3 record under Stoops when favored, so at least there’s that.
Sometimes, it can be frustrating to see Kentucky beat far inferior opponents in a really close game (Eastern Michigan and Eastern Kentucky, anyone?). Don’t get me wrong, I get as irrationally angry as most of you do, but the fact of the matter is it goes in the record book the same way: “W”.
Hopefully, the Cats will continue to improve this season both in the win column and ATS, but if the only improvement we see is in terms of wins, I think the BBN will still be happy.
I’m confident Kentucky is going to win on Saturday, but bet the Cats at your own risk.