Kentucky opens as slight favorite at South Carolina

As Kentucky faces season-saving back-to-back road matchups to close out regular season action, the Wildcats will be favorites in the first down in Columbia.

Taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks in the SEC finale, Kentucky has opened as a 3-point favorite, according to the early lines released by FanDuel. The moneyline has been set at -154 in favor of the Wildcats while the over/under sits at 51.5 points.

ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Kentucky, which has now lost four of its last five games this season, a 41.8% chance to pull off the victory inside Williams-Brice Stadium.

Need to know: South Carolina Gamecocks

What do you need to know about South Carolina? The Gamecocks are 4-6 on the year with wins over Furman (47-21), Mississippi State (37-30), Jacksonville State (38-28) and Vanderbilt (47-6). Of the team’s losses, five of six came by multiple scores, the outlier being a 41-39 home loss to Florida.

Spencer Rattler has been a positive at the quarterback position, throwing for 2,516 yards, 14 touchdowns and just six interceptions on 69.7% completion (212-304). The issue? He has taken 36 sacks on the year while the rushing game has been a slow burn — Mario Anderson leading the way with 543 yards and two scores on 108 carries, Dakereon Joyner adding 115 yards and five scores.

Xavier Legette has been a standout at wide receiver, racking up 973 yards and five touchdowns on 50 receptions, followed by two 200-yard options in tight end Trey Knox (277 yards) and receiver O’Mega Blake (214 yards). 10 players have earned over 100 receiving yards on the year for the Gamecocks.

As a team, USC ranks No. 63 overall in team offense at 393.1 yards per contest and No. 105 in defense, allowing 413.6 yards per game. That compares to No. 99 overall for the Kentucky offense (343.3 YPG) and No. 49 for the defense (356.9 yards allowed).

Though the Wildcats have won seven of the last nine in the matchup, the Gamecocks have come out on top in two of the last four, including a 24-14 victory a season ago.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET in Columbia, live on SEC Network.

Want more coverage of the Cats? Join the KSR Club.

KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard, our message board featuring thousands of Kentucky fans around the globe. Just $1 gets you one month of access. Come join the club.