Kentucky Sports Gambling: What to Wager, Odds for the Cats

Sports gambling has finally arrived in Kentucky. You’ve waited for years to place those first wagers. Now let’s take a closer look at what you can bet on this weekend, from local football games to futures on the Kentucky Wildcats.

A Wonderful Offer from FanDuel

KentuckySportsRadio.com and On3 have partnered with FanDuel for this college football season. To celebrate the first day of gambling in Kentucky, FanDuel has a wager you can’t afford to miss in tonight’s Lions-Packers game. If more than one point is scored in Thursday Night Football, you win with +100 odds. The max wager is $50.

You’re reading that right. Bet $50 for more than one point in tonight’s NFL game and you can win $50. Sign up at FanDuel.com/KySports.

Kentucky Football and Basketball Futures

Kentucky Basketball to Win the National Championship: +1600
The Wildcats are the fifth choice, trailing Kansas, Duke, Purdue and Michigan State.

Kentucky Basketball to Reach the Final Four: +470
John Calipari is trying to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2015.

Kentucky Basketball to win SEC Regular Season Title: +500
Tennessee (+290) is the first choice, followed by the Wildcats and Texas A&M, then Florida (+600) and Auburn (+850). Nate Oats and Alabama are +1000 to repeat as SEC Champs.

Kentucky Football to Win National Championship: +20,000
23 teams have better odds than the Wildcats to win it all.

Kentucky Football to Win SEC Championship: +5000
The Wildcats have never played in the SEC Championship Game.

Lookahead Lines for Kentucky Football

You might be able to find some value before game week. Kentucky is currently a 3-point underdog against Louisville in the Governor’s Cup. ESPN’s SP+ analytics currently project a 14-point spread for next week’s game at Georgia, but the FanDuel Lookahead line is Kentucky +23.5 vs. Georgia. Interesting.

Take advantage of the KSR+ BIG GAME SPECIAL to get bonus coverage of Kentucky vs. Florida, including a live game thread, practice reports, an in-depth scouting report, and the latest recruiting intel. 50% off the annual price or $1 for 1 month.

College Football Week 5

There are a few intriguing weeknight games that might pique your interest before Kentucky and Florida kick off the Saturday slate on ESPN at noon.

Thursday Night
Middle Tennessee State (+6.5) at Western Kentucky, O/U 60.5
Temple (+3.5) at Tulsa, O/U 55.5
Jacksonville State (-6.5) at Sam Houston State, O/U 36.5

Western Kentucky is 2-2 ATS this year and enters this game off back-to-back losses at Ohio State and against Troy. WKU has won seven of the last eight in ‘100 Miles of Hate,’ taking the last two games by an average of 22.5 points.

Friday Night
Louisville (-3.5) at NC State, O/U 55.5
Utah (+3.5) at Oregon State, O/U 44.5
Cincinnati (-1.5) at BYU, O/U 48.5
Penn State (-26.5) at Northwestern, O/U 46.5

Quarterback Cam Rising‘s status is uncertain entering this Pac-12 matchup. Without their starter the under has hit in all four Utah football games. James Franklin is a covering machine for Penn state, who is 4-0 ATS this year. The Jeff Brohm era at Louisville has opened with three overs hitting in four games.

Top 25 Games

Kansas (+16.5) at Texas, O/U 61.5
Florida (+1.5) at Kentucky, O/U 44.5
USC (-21.5) at Colorado, O/U 74.5
Georgia (-14.5) at Auburn, O/U 45.5
LSU (-2.5) at Ole Miss, O/U 67.5
Missouri (-13.5) at Vanderbilt, O/U 54.4
Oregon (-27.5) at Stanford, O/U 60.5
Notre Dame (-5.5) at Duke, O/U 51.5
South Carolina (+12.5) at Tennessee, O/U 63.5
Alabama (-14.5) at Miss. State, O/U 46.5
Nevada (+24.5) at Fresno State, O/U 50.5
Washington (-17.5) at Arizona, O/U 67.5

Kentucky is 12-4 ATS in Noon games since 2019. Florida is 1-3 ATS this fall, while Kentucky has covered in three of four games. Georgia has failed to cover a spread this season and the under has hit three times. Mississippi State has only scored one touchdown against Alabama since 2017.