Tennessee vs. Kentucky prediction: Where the experts see an edge

SEC rivals get reacquainted as Tennessee hits the road a second-straight week against Kentucky in college football’s Week 9 action on Saturday, and now the experts and betting markets have locked in their early prediction for the game.

Tennessee fell to 2-2 in SEC competition with losses against Georgia and now Alabama, and now with less margin for error in the conference championship race and the College Football Playoff picture midway through the regular season.

Kentucky is yet to win a game against an SEC opponent in four tries, ranking 103rd in the country in scoring offense and yet to score more than 14 points in its last 3 games.

Where are the experts putting their money as the Volunteers meet the Wildcats? Let’s take a look at the early prediction and betting lines for this Week 9 game.

Tennessee vs. Kentucky prediction, odds

The betting markets are siding strongly with the Volunteers in this SEC rivalry, very nearly by double digits this weekend.

Tennessee is a 9.5 point favorite against Kentucky, according to the current game lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel lists the total at 52.5 points for the matchup.

And it set the moneyline odds for Tennessee at -315 and for Kentucky at +250 to win outright.

Tennessee: -9.5 (-105)
Kentucky: +9.5 (-115)

Over 52.5 points: -115
Under 52.5 points: -105

Tennessee vs. Kentucky trends

Tennessee is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games... 14-4 ATS in its last 18 against Kentucky... 1-5 ATS in its last 6 road games... 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games against UK... Won 7 of its last 10 games against SEC teams... Went under in its last 5 games in October... Went over in 4 of its last 5 road games against Kentucky.

Kentucky is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games... 0-5 ATS in its last 5 home games against UT... 1-8 ATS in its last 9 games played in October... Won 3 of its last 22 games against Tennessee.. Won 2 of its last 15 home games against the Vols.

Where the money is going

The vast majority of bettors are taking the Volunteers to run away with this matchup against the Wildcats, according to the spread consensus picks for the game.

Tennessee is getting 72 percent of bets to win the game by at least 10 points and cover the generous spread to avoid a third conference loss.

The other 28 percent of wagers project that Kentucky will either upset the Vols outright or, more likely, to keep the final margin under 10 points in a loss.

Implied score prediction

The game’s implied score suggests a solid victory for the Vols to move ahead in SEC play.

When taking the point spread and total into consideration, it’s implied that Tennessee will defeat Kentucky by a projected score of 31 to 22.

The consensus prediction for Tennessee vs. Kentucky is...

Kentucky +9.5
Tennessee -315
Take the over

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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