Kentucky vs. South Carolina: National Media Predictions

MrsTylerKSR

Tomorrow night, your No. 13 Kentucky Wildcats (4-1) take on the South Carolina Gamecocks (3-2) at Kroger Field. The Cats are coming off a tough 22-19 loss at No. 14 Ole Miss, while the Gamecocks routed South Carolina State 50-10 over a week ago. Before the news broke that Will Levis may not play due to a lower leg injury, Kentucky was a 10.5-point favorite; now, the line has moved to -6.5.

Most national media members still believe the Cats will take care of business. Here’s a roundup of their predictions. As you can see, some were made before the Levis news came out Wednesday night.

On3’s JD PicKell: Kentucky

ESPN Football Power Index

ESPN’s Bill Connelly

South Carolina at No. 13 Kentucky (7:30 p.m. ET, SECN). South Carolina has played five SP+ top-15 teams during Shane Beamer’s 18-game tenure; the Gamecocks are 0-5 with the losses by an average score of 41-11. Kentucky might be a top-15 team in name only, though — quarterback Will Levis is questionable with injury.
Current line: UK -6 (down -10.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: UK by 11.9 | FPI projection: UK by 9.8. Once again, it appears a key QB injury is making the line move.

CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee: South Carolina +10.5

The Wildcats have struggled to run the football all season, but the Gamecocks rushing defense has been less-than-stellar. That won’t be what keeps this game close, though. Gamecocks running back MarShawn Lloyd has been rounding back to form over the last two days, and he’ll have enough success against an average Wildcats pass defense to keep this one close. In the end, the erratic nature of Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler’s play will cost them the win in what will still be a single-digit game. Pick: South Carolina (+10.5)

CBS Sports Staff

Straight Up

Against the Spread

Sporting News’ Bill Bender: Kentucky

Kentucky is coming off a disappointing loss at Ole Miss, and now they have to recalibrate for a visit from South Carolina. The Wildcats won 16-10 last year. The Gamecocks, however, are 1-4 ATS as a road underdog under Shane Beamer. This is a tough call, but the Wildcats bounce back with Will Levis and Chris Rodriguez Jr. leading the way.
Pick: Kentucky wins 31-20 and COVERS the spread.

Athlon Sports’ J.P. Scott

The Wildcats are coming off an emotional and hard-fought loss to Ole Miss that knocked them out of the top 10. The loss also makes it very difficult for Kentucky to climb back into the College Football Playoff conversation. Now UK needs to test its resilience and reset. South Carolina comes in as double-digit underdogs looking to completely derail Kentucky’s season. The Gamecocks are in search of their first SEC win. They’ve already seen the toughest team they’ll face all season (Georgia), and they’ve got the talent to a man to go blow for blow with the Wildcats. Especially if quarterback Will Levis sits this one out due to injury, which is being reported as a distinct possibility.

College Football News’ Pete Fiutak: Kentucky

Kentucky might have more good parts now, and it might have a future NFL franchise quarterback, but it’s still doing Kentucky things.
It just doesn’t have the ability make things easy on itself.
South Carolina has been taking the ball away over the last two weeks, but that will slow down this week. Rodriguez and the UK running game will finally start to take the pressure off, the defense will do its normal bending without breaking, and the team will overcome a terrific day from Rattler.
Picking him off two times will help.
Prediction: Kentucky 34, South Carolina 23