What Are the Odds?: Mississippi State Listed as Underdog Against Kentucky
Mississippi State (4-3) is on the right side of the win column after it defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores, 45-6 this past Saturday.
The Bulldogs were listed as a heavy favorite over Vanderbilt and obviously delivered. Next up, MSU will face the Kentucky Wildcats (6-1) in Davis Wade Stadium, heading into the matchup as an underdog this time.
The Wildcats, who come off of a bye week after most recently falling 30-13 to the No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, are currently listed as 1.5-point favorites on SI Sportsbook.
This game is very much a toss-up. Kentucky is a hot team on an obvious upswing in an opened-up offense under offensive coordinator Liam Coen. The Wildcats are the same team that finished the season 5-6 last year (4-6 in conference play) with just one loss this year that came against quite literally the best team in college football right now.
At the same time, the Wildcats have also had a lot of ugly wins (like the 28-23 victory over a Chattanooga team they should have blown out) and gave up over 400 total offensive yards to an LSU team that has struggled in just about every aspect this year.
Going up against a high-power Mississippi State offense that showed just how effective it could be when clicking on all cylinders in the 26-22 statement victory over Texas A&M -- the same one that put up 45 points on Saturday -- the Wildcats can't let quarterback Will Rogers and the Air Raid get into a rhythm if they're to hang in this one.
Looking at the Wildcats offense, this is a team that has some really strong pieces within it -- running back Chris Rodriguez leads the SEC in rushing yards (775 yards), while wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson ranks fifth in the conference in receiving yards (566).
It's easy to see this being a hard-fought matchup, and it will be interesting to see which team ultimately comes out on top as the Bulldogs and Wildcats kick off at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday in Starkville.
