Kentucky will be a double-digit underdog against Tennessee

Kentucky men’s basketball will try to break its 10-game losing streak against the spread, ideally by bringing home a win back to Lexington.

On Friday afternoon, the spread for UK’s road matchup this weekend against No. 5 Tennessee was released by DraftKings with the Volunteers coming out as a 14-point favorite. The over/under has been set at 134.5. Kentucky sits on a 10-6 overall record this season with a 1-3 mark in the SEC.

This spread marks the largest betting line against Kentucky with John Calipari as head coach. The last time UK was this big of an underdog, you’d have to go all the way back to Nov. 2008 when No. 1 North Carolina hosted Kentucky as an 18.5-point favorite. UK lost that game by 19 points, 77-58.

It’s not just the folks in Las Vegas that are down on the ‘Cats in this matchup, either. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Tennessee a 90.7 percent chance to win while KenPom and BartTorvik project the Vols will win by 14 points (73-59) and 18 points (74-56), respectively.

Kentucky is just 4-12-0 against the spread this season, failing to beat the spread in 10 consecutive outings, beginning with the Wildcats’ 19-point win over Bellarmine on Nov. 29. UK came into that game as a 25.5-point favorite. Meanwhile, Tennessee is 9-7-0 against the spread this season.

Tipoff between the ‘Cats and Vols is scheduled for noon EST on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena. It will be broadcast on ESPN.

[UPDATE, 6:30 PM EST: Shortly after KSR’s report broke the news that Cason Wallace is expected to play against Tennessee, the line has been moved down to -12 in favor of the Vols.]