Missouri vs. Kentucky point spread: Picking Tigers vs. Wildcats

The battle for second place in the SEC East could be decided when Missouri travels to Lexington for a Week 7 matchup with the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats. With both teams sitting at 5-1 at the midway point of the season, Kentucky grabs the edge on the betting slips as a 2.5-point favorite in Vegas.

Both teams were undefeated one week ago — but someone is going to end Week 7 on the cusp of a losing streak. With that in mind, On3”s Andy Staples called on the services of former LSU offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert to make his pick between the Tigers and Wildcats.

“I’m going to rock with Mizzou. It may be because I’ve been snorting too much offense every weekend, but I love what Brady Cook and Luther Burden are doing right now. It’s so much fun,” Hebert told Staples. “I think Brady Cook is legit. His receivers kind of betrayed him during that LSU game, but he was putting on [LSU] throughout the game.

To Hebert’s point, Mizzou’s tight ends collectively dropped three of their four targets on the afternoon but Cook was still able to finish with 411 passing yards. As expected, Luther Burden led the way with 11 receptions for 149 yards, while Theo Wease and Mookie Cooper finished the game with 80 yards a piece.

A performance like that is almost foreign to the Wildcats, whose passing game has been almost inept since the start of SEC play. Through three SEC games, Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary has totaled 402 yards — less than Cook threw in last week’s game alone — on a 46% completion percentage.

“And what about Devin Leary? What was he on two years ago mentally and physically at NC State? He has been completely unable to recapture it,” Hebert said. “I thought that maybe Liam Coen would be the key to unlocking it, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I think Mizzou has a big quarterback advantage, so give me the Tigers.”

Staples agreed with Hebert’s thoughts and went with the Tigers. With Kentucky’s poor strength of schedule to begin the year before laying a massive egg on a national stage — the national media won’t be in your favor. Staples and Hebert are no different.

Saturday night’s opening kickoff inside Kroger Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network. The over/under total is set at 51.5 points.