Kentucky Covering vs. Mississippi State is a Popular National Media Pick

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State isn’t a big draw nationally. The names don’t carry the same weight as other big brands. However, college football handicappers are paying extra close attention to this game. The experts like the way the Wildcats are entering this road trip to the Starkville House of Horrors.

Kickoff: 7:30 pm EST
TV: SEC Network
FanDuel line: Kentucky -4.5, Total 45.5

ESPN’s Bill Connelly

The data-driven analyst that created the SP+ rankings believes Kentucky is one of the best bets of the weekend. ESPN’s SP+ calls for Kentucky to win by 6.3 points. “Kentucky’s better than its three-game losing streak suggests, and Mississippi State has underachieved against projections for six of the last seven games,” said Connelly.

ESPN’s Football Power Index isn’t as bullish on Kentucky as Connelly.

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli

The CBS prognosticator picks six games each week. They are his favorite road favorite. He’s taking Kentucky to cover the spread.

 “I’m looking to take advantage of recency bias in this spot. Kentucky comes into the game on a three-game losing streak, but the losses have come against Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee. Nothing personal, Mississippi State, but you aren’t the same caliber as those teams. You’re the team that is 1-4 in SEC play and scoring 16.2 points per game against conference opponents. Hell, your only SEC win was a 7-3 snoozer over Arkansas that resembled kindergarten nap time. Nobody did anything except for the one kid in the corner crying because they missed their mom,” writes Fornelli.

“The Wildcats may have struggled against the better teams of the SEC but have proven reliable against the teams more on their level. They beat Florida by 19 and Vanderbilt by 17, and if you watched last week’s loss to Tennessee you may have noticed quarterback Devin Leary looked better than he has in any other game this season. Kentucky should be closer to a touchdown favorite in this spot.”

KSR Breaks Down Kentucky vs. Mississippi State

Take a deeper dive than the national analysts by watching 11 Personnel‘s preview of Kentucky vs. Mississippi State. The Bulldogs’ porous pass defense provides an opportunity for Liam Coen‘s offense to take another step forward. The same can be said for Brad White‘s defense against a Mississippi State team that’s struggled to consistently score points after transitioning away from Mike Leach’s Air Raid attack.

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