Where's the smart money in the Compass Bowl?

There's only one more chance for you to use the Cats' football team to get your gambling itch scratched, in the event you're into those kinds of things despite us not personally endorsing such activities. The Cats are 3.5 point underdogs for Saturday, and in order to make sure you're properly prepared to risk little Billy's college fund on the BBVA Compass Bowl, here are some breakdowns of the game from people with websites that would lead you to believe they know something about betting on sports. --BookMaker.com says to take the Cats:

Kentucky’s defense is pathetic. Pittsburgh should be able to run the ball against a unit that allowed 28 rushing touchdowns and 170.1 yards a game this season. But even though the talent disparity heavily favors the Panthers, you have to be concerned about the distractions. This team has underachieved all season and will have trouble getting up for this contest. Take the points with the squad from the SEC.

--BetUs.com agrees that UK's SEC schedule will have them better prepared for the bowl contest:

As for Kentucky, well, even without Hartline, we expect them to thrive. They finished the year at .500 in the tough SEC, even beating SEC East champion South Carolina along the way. If they could hang tough in that conference, they should have no problem doing it here. All the more reason to make the Wildcats your Sports Book Betting pick.

--Doc's Sports thinks that the turmoil Pitt has faced is reason enough to take Big Blue:

#265 Take Kentucky +3 ½ over Pittsburgh (BBVA Compass Bowl, Saturday, Jan. 8th, 12 pm ESPN) The Panthers are really in flux at the moment since Coach Dave Wannstedt resigned as coach last month. Pittsburgh hired Mike Haywood but he was let go after a domestic charges last month. Now we get word that Coach Wannstedt will not even coach the Panthers in the bowl game and all of this does not bode well playing an SEC team like Kentucky.

--Not everyone has their thinking cap on, though, as The Sportsbook Review thinks Pitt can overcome their obstacles to beat the Cats:

Due to the Kentucky quarterback situation, this is a tough game to handicap. I am, however, going to take a contrarian approach to both the side and total. The public is going to focus on the chaos at Pittsburgh, which should allow the Kentucky situation to slide under the radar. Based on his play last season, I think that Newton will have a difficult time getting the ball to playmakers such as Randall Cobb. This will allow Pitt to concentrate its stout run defense on Locke. On the other side of the ball, Kentucky’s sieve-like rushing defense should allow Dion Grant to have a big day. This will set up the play-action pass for quarterback Tino Sunseri. Even with the distractions of the coaching carousel, Pitt is the better team. Wait until later in the week to bet, however, because I think the public may begin betting on Kentucky due to the coaching situation.

There you have it. The general consensus seems to be that the uncertainty around Pitt will make it tough for them to beat the Cats, despite Kentucky's own set of ups and downs since the regular season ended. Combine that with UK being better prepared thanks to a tough conference slate and Pitt somehow being favored, and you should have a recipe for easy money. And if you end up losing, I never said that.