Kentucky opens as slight underdog at Louisville

mark-pope-pat-kelsey — Kentucky head basketball coach Mark Pope gestured while telling a story at the 2024 Leadership Louisville Luncheon at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville on Wednesday, August 28, 2024.

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats will travel to Louisville as underdogs against Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals.

The early analytics have favored UL, and now, the opening spread reflects that, UK sitting at +2.5 heading to the KFC Yum! Center with the over/under set at 168.5 points, according to our friends at BetMGM. Kentucky’s point total has been listed at 83.5 compared to 86.5 for Louisville.

KenPom predicts an 84-83 loss for the Wildcats on the road, giving Pope’s squad a 49 percent chance to pull off the victory. Elsewhere, BartTorvik is going with an 85-79 loss for the blue and white with a 32 percent chance to win outright. It’s similar pessimism with ESPN’s Matchup Predictor, which gives UK a 27.1 percent chance to open the year 3-0

Both programs enter the matchup with 2-0 records, the Wildcats defeating Nicholls and Valparaiso to open the season and the Cardinals earning wins over South Carolina State and Jackson State.

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UK defeated UL in the first head-to-head battle between Pope and Kelsey last season 93-85 inside Rupp Arena, led by Lamont Butler with a career-high 33 points on a perfect 10-10 shooting and 6-6 from three. Otega Oweh added 17 points in that one, followed by Jaxson Robinson with 12 and Andrew Carr and Koby Brea with 10 apiece.

Will the Cats be able to avoid revenge for the Cards on their home floor? They’ll have to do it as underdogs.

Kentucky vs. Louisville: How to Watch, Listen

Tipoff: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas)
Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
FM: 98.1 WBUL
Online: iHeart Radio
Sirius XM: 117 or 190

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