Kentucky vs. Tennessee odds, betting trends, and expert picks

Is it hyperbole to say Saturday is the season for Kentucky Wildcats Football? While it’s still October and the Wildcats are 5-2, a tough road lies ahead. The Tennessee Volunteers come to Lexington on Saturday and have been the better team through seven games this season. Kentucky has also lost two straight games in poor fashion.

With a road game at Mississippi State, back home against Alabama then back-to-back road games at South Carolina and Louisville to end the year, it wouldn’t be crazy to say Kentucky could lose out.

That’s a tough pill to swallow for Kentucky fans, especially with the hype surrounding this team before the season began. This makes Saturday’s game against Tennessee that much more important.

Kentucky is coming off of a bye week and will have the homefield advantage for a night kickoff. But will they be able to pull out a win? That’s a tough question to answer.

Odds

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Kentucky is a 3.5-point home underdog, and oddsmakers are predicting a rather high-scoring affair with the game’s point total set at 51.5. UK is 0.5-point underdog in the first quarter and a 2.5-point underdog in the first half.

Betting Trends

• Kentucky is 1-7 straight up in its last eight games played in October.
• Tennessee is 14-6 against the spread in its last 20 games.
• Kentucky is 6-3 against the spread in its last nine games when playing as the underdog.
• The total has gone OVER in four of Kentucky’s last five games.
• Tennessee is 9-4 straight up in its last 13 games vs. the SEC.
• The total has gone under in four of Kentucky’s last five games vs. Tennessee.
• Kentucky is 1-7 against the spread in its last eight games at home vs. Tennessee.
• The total has gone under in six of Tennessee’s last 9nine games.
• Tennessee is 1-4 against the spread in its last five games on the road.

Expert Picks

• FanSided — Tennessee 35, Kentucky 28
• Fox Sports — Tennessee 32, Kentucky 23
• Athlon Sports — Tennessee 32, Kentucky 23
• Sportsbook Wire — Kentucky 27, Tennessee 24
• College Football News — Kentucky 26, Tennessee 23
• According to Pick Watch, 74% of the predictions logged across the net are in favor of the Vols.

Prediction

Saturday’s game will come down to which team can pass the ball more efficiently. Through seven games this season, Kentucky has had a stellar rushing attack led by Ray Davis. But their passing attack has been incredibly underwhelming. Quarterback Devin Leary has missed so many easy throws, and his receivers have let him down with countless drops.

Normally a bye week provides the extra amount of time necessary to clean things up on either side of the ball. But based on what we’ve seen over the first seven weeks of the season, Kentucky’s struggles in the passing game appear to be too far out of reach when it comes to making any significant improvements. All Tennessee has to do is load the box on a majority of Kentucky’s plays and force Leary to throw the ball throughout the game.

There’s not much optimism here, but that’s mainly because Kentucky hasn’t given many reasons for anyone to be optimistic. Maybe the Wildcats can make a play or two on special teams to flip points and swing momentum, but we’ll have to see it to believe it.

Final Score: Tennessee 31, Kentucky 20

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.