The Kentucky Wildcats are back home this week as they face Vanderbilt while playing with heavy hearts.

The Wildcats lost their offensive line coach, John Schlarman, Thursday morning after his two-year battle with cancer. Schlarman was still with the team up to the day of his passing, coaching one of the best offensive line units in the country.

Having life-long ties to the program, Schlarman will be dearly missed. As if Kentucky wasn’t already motivated enough after dropping back to back games before their bye week, the Wildcats will now have the chance to revive their offense against a weakened Commodores defense.

This is usually an easy travel game for Big Blue Nation, but with COVID Kentucky won’t have that advantage. So can Kentucky pull off a rebound this weekend? We’ll soon find out.

Odds

According to OddsShark, Kentucky opened as -17.5 point favorites over Vanderbilt with that line recently moving in their direction. The Wildcats currently sit as 18-point favorites with the current over/under total set at 41.5 points.

Kentucky is currently the “sharp” side for Saturday’s game, with 61% of the tickets placed on Kentucky’s 18-point spread bringing in 73% of the cash bet on the game. The same goes for the game’s over/under total, with the over receiving 51% of the tickets and a heavy amount of cash at 74%.

Betting Trends

Kentucky

• Kentucky is 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games.
• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Kentucky’s last 6 games.
• Kentucky is 2-4 SU in their last 6 games.
• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kentucky’s last 8 games against Vanderbilt.
• Kentucky is 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games at home.
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kentucky’s last 5 games when playing at home against Vanderbilt.
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kentucky’s last 5 games this season.
• Kentucky is 5-11 SU in their last 16 games against an opponent in the Southeastern conference.
• Kentucky is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games played in November.
• Kentucky is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games played in week 11.

Vanderbilt

• Vanderbilt is 5-13 ATS in their last 18 games.
• The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Vanderbilt’s last 14 games.
• Vanderbilt is 0-6 SU in their last 6 games.
• Vanderbilt is 6-3 ATS in their last 9 games against Kentucky.
• Vanderbilt is 1-5 SU in their last 6 games against Kentucky.
• Vanderbilt is 0-6 SU in their last 6 games on the road.
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vanderbilt’s last 5 games when playing on the road against Kentucky.
• Vanderbilt is 0-5 SU in their last 5 games this season.
• Vanderbilt is 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games against an opponent in the Southeastern conference.
• The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Vanderbilt’s last 9 games played in November.

Expert Picks

• Bill Connelly’s SP+ formula has the Wildcats winning 34-14 and gives them an 88% chance of victory.
• Pete Fiutak of College Football News is predicting a Kentucky victory of 24-10 with a Vanderbilt cover.
• Eric Sorenson of Athlon Sports sees an even lesser margin for Kentucky, calling for a 17-10 victory by the Wildcats.
• Josh Moore with the Lexington Herald-Leader is in tune with Fiutak, also predicting a 24-10 win for Kentucky.
• Free Picks has Kentucky winning 17-10.
• numberFire has the Cats winning 37-13, while TeamRankings went with a 31-13 victory for Kentucky.

Prediction

The Wildcats have given every indication of an inconsistent football team and little-to-no reason to have any confidence in them scoring the football. Play-calling has been all over the place and the offense as a whole has been everything but efficient. However, against Vanderbilt’s defense, the Wildcats should find their groove. And may I add that the defense is playing exceptionally well over the last month and a half. Kentucky will play as hard as they have all season, running wild on Vanderbilt for a hefty win.

Final Score: Kentucky 31, Vanderbilt 13