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UPDATE
The No. 9 Florida Gators have opened as an eight-point favorite over the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. It’s now down to 7.5 points with an over/under of 54.5, according to OddsShark, which projects a 39-29 win for the road team.
Bet responsibly, and go Cats!
Next Saturday's night game vs. Florida will be our Blue+White game ⚪️
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 26, 2021
North (away) side of Kroger Field, + student section, we're asking you to wear white. South (home) side, you wear Blue
Let's get Kroger Field rocking #ForTheTeam pic.twitter.com/K1GvV9Mu82
The Kentucky Wildcats and Florida Gators are set for a primetime affair in Week 5, and we now know the official start time and TV channel.
After the SEC initially reserved two slots for this game depending on how Week 4 played out, Kentucky vs. Florida will happen Saturday on ESPN at 6 pm ET. Kentucky enters the game 4-0 overall and 2-0 in SEC play, whereas Florida is 3-1 and 1-1 respectively.
While Kentucky did manage to end their painfully-long losing streak to the Gators in 2018, we still haven’t seen a Wildcats victory over Florida in Lexington since 1986.
What makes this even more painful is there’s been what feels like countless games that Kentucky could have won in Lexington but made too many critical mistakes and ultimately lost in gut-wrenching fashion.
In fact, Kentucky’s last three home losses to Florida have been by one score. So in a way, it feels like a piece of the Gators’ decades-long winning streak over Kentucky still looms over the program.
Is this the year Kentucky finally gives fans a reason to rush the field after beating Florida?
The Gators are coming off their third double-digit win of the season, this time over the Tennessee Volunteers in Gainesville, 38-14 after leading just 17-14 at halftime.
Florida didn’t look that daunting against the Vols or in their wins over Florida Atlantic and South Florida, but they managed to push No. 1 Alabama to the limit in Week 3 before ultimately falling 31-29.
The Gators clearly have their usual elite talent, but they’ve also shown enough vulnerabilities to think Kentucky can make this a game.
Game: Florida Gators at Kentucky Wildcats in Week 5
Time: 6 pm ET on October 2nd, 2021.
TV: ESPN
Online Streaming: WatchESPN and the ESPN app will have online streaming coverage as usual.
Radio: UK Sports Network
Odds: No official line has been set, but ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Gators an 80.1% chance of winning in Lexington as of Sunday morning.
Early Prediction: TeamRankings predicts Florida to win 33-20.