Diego Pavia on being an underdog vs Kentucky: 'We'll see if Vegas oddsmakers are delusional or not'

Kentucky opened as an 11.5-point favorite over Vanderbilt at home, and that line has since increased to 13.5 as game week progresses.

This comes after Vanderbilt defeated former No. 1 Alabama at home over the weekend. During an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday, Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia is ready to prove the doubters wrong once against despite the unfavorable line.

“It’s obvious, though,” Pavia told Finebaum. “You know, a lot of people still don’t believe what we got. We’re 14-point dogs, so we’ll see in Vegas if they’re just delusional, or if we’re really 14-point dogs.”

Alabama was a 22.5-point favorite against Vanderbilt on the road last week. The Crimson Tide would never lead the Commodores. The week before, they were an 18.5-point underdog against Missouri and ended up taking the Tigers to double overtime.

Interestingly, the Commodores were also 13.5-point underdogs against Virginia Tech in the season opener. Vanderbilt would go on to win that game 34-27 but played that game on their home turf. Against Kentucky on Saturday, Pavia and company will be inside Kroger Field.

The last time Vanderbilt traveled to Lexington was during the 2022 season where they would upset a No. 24 Kentucky team. The Wildcats earned the win back in Nashville last season, making Clark Lea 1-2 against Kentucky as head coach, and will be looking to even the series.

A win would propel the Commodores to 4-2 on the season, doubling their win total from a year ago. However, it seems Vegas is factoring in an SEC road environment at night against a team who themselves are coming off an upset win over a top 10 team in Ole Miss on the road in Week 5.

Kentucky was idle in Week 6 while Vanderbilt did the impossible, so it appears that a fresh Kentucky team will take on a highly confident Commodore squad.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.