The No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats visit the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. In our continued college football odds series, we provide our Kentucky-Tennessee prediction and picks.
Kickoff in this high-profile SEC battle is set for 7 p.m. ET. Tennessee (7-0) enters this week as one of six teams sitting in the AP Top 25 without a loss on the season. Kentucky (5-2) will look to pull off the massive upset coming off a win over Mississippi State at home. It did lose to South Carolina before that, but that was without projected first-round pick quarterback Will Levis. Other than that, their lone loss was a 3-point defeat at the hands of then-undefeated Ole Miss. Kentucky’s biggest win is arguably on the road over Florida in early September.
Tennessee had the game of the year defeating Alabama earlier this season. It did play an FCS side this past week but has wins over Florida and LSU prior to that. It beat those teams by 5, 27, and 3 points, respectively. Tennessee is being looked at as a true threat to be a CFP-contending program, and its success has been on the back of Heisman candidate QB Hendon Hooker.
Let’s dive deeper into the Kentucky-Tennessee prediction and odds.
CFB Odds: Kentucky-Tennessee Prediction and Odds
Will Levis a Dual Threat for Kentucky
The Wildcats have been impressive this season, and the return of starting running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. mixed with the play of Levis has been the main reason for their improved play.
Levis is projected to be the third quarterback off the NFL Draft board in April, and he has 13 touchdowns to five interceptions with 1,635 passing yards. He has minus-49 rushing yards, but the 6-foot-3 quarterback has mobile capabilities as well. Levis has been the main weapon, but Rodriguez Jr. was the key reason this team weathered the storm against Mississippi State. He ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
The Wildcats allow just 16.4 points per game and have played a plethora of top-tier SEC offenses. Kentucky is led defensively by linebacker Jordan Wright, who has seven tackles for a loss and one sack on the season. It has allowed a 55.9% opponents’ completion percentage and 117.1 rushing yards per game.
Hendon Hooker Leads Tennessee Offense
No one is questioning if Hooker is the real deal or not, but this Kentucky defense will be one of his toughest tests this season. Hooker has thrown for 2,093 yards, 18 touchdowns and just one interception.
What makes him even more lethal is his dual-threat ability, having also rushed for 315 yards, third-most on the team. On top of all that, he has a 70.6% completion percentage and has the Vols with the No. 1 offense in the nation and the only offense averaging over 50 points per game. With WR Jalin Hyatt catching 12 touchdowns and 769 yards from Hooker, the Vols are playing at an almost unsustainable pace.
Defensively, their weakness could be exploited, as it is in the pass game, and Levis could have his way Saturday. Tennessee allows 329.7 passing yards per game to opponents and 16 passing first downs per game, which is more than average. With a defense that is strong against the run, Tennessee will be tested this week.
Final Kentucky-Tennessee Prediction and Pick
Tennessee is the better team and has the more explosive players, but Kentucky has a roster capable of pulling off the upset. Kentucky is 4-1 against the spread (ATS) as a road underdog since Levis took over at the start of last season. The Wildcats are strong on both sides of the ball and have a defense capable of taming the elite Volunteers attack.
Back Kentucky as this is just too many points for a top-15 SEC battle.
Final Kentucky-Tennessee Pick: Wildcats +12.5 (-107) at BetMGM | Playable to +12.0 (+100)
