Updating the betting line for No. 7 Tennessee's game against Kentucky

Tennessee Football is up to a 17.5-point favorite against Kentucky for Saturday night’s game at Neyland Stadium. The line opened at 14.5 late last week and has continued to move in favor of the Vols this week.

No. 7 Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) and Kentucky (3-5, 1-5) are scheduled for a 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff on SEC Network.

The line went from 15.5 points on Sunday to 16.5 points on Tuesday, according to The Action Network, then to 17.5 points on Thursday.

The 17.5-point spread is the third largest spread for a Tennessee game this season. The Vols were 49-point favorites against Kent State on September 14 and 39.5-point favorites against Chattanooga in the season opener on August 31 at Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee is 5-2 against the spread this season

Since the 19-14 loss at Arkansas on October 5, the Vols have rebounded with a 23-17 overtime win against Florida at Neyland Stadium on October 12 and the 24-17 win over Alabama last week. 

Kentucky lost 20-13 at home against Vanderbilt two weeks ago, before the loss in Gainesville last week. The Wildcats beat then-No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 in Oxford on September 28. 

Tennessee is 5-2 against the spread this season. The Vols covered against Chattanooga (-39.5), NC State (-8.5), Kent State (-49), at Oklahoma (-5.5) and at home against Alabama (+3.5). They failed to cover at Arkansas (-14) and against Florida (-14).

Kentucky is 4-3 against the spread, covering against Southern Miss (-25.5), Georgia (+22), Ohio (-21) and at Ole Miss (+15.5) while failing to cover against South Carolina (-9.5), Vanderbilt (-12.5) and Florida (-2.5).

A Closer Look: Kentucky

Kentucky comes to Knoxville on the heels of three straight losses, falling 20-13 at home against Vanderbilt, 48-20 at Florida two weeks ago, then 24-10 at home against Auburn Saturday night.

The Wildcats led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, but Auburn scored 24 straight points while shutting UK out over the final three quarters. 

Auburn ran for 328 yards on 47 attempts as a team, with Marquez Hunter going for 278 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. 

Kentucky has questions to answer at quarterback, too, after Brock Vandagriff was replaced by Gavin Wimsatt against Auburn. 

Vandagriff completed 9 of 17 passes for 120 yards and an interception against Kentucky. Wimsatt was 3-for-10 for 34 yards and an interception and ran nine times for 23 yards. 

Vandagriff this season is completing 57.1 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,236 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. Wimsatt, a Rutgers transfer, is more of a running threat. He’s 8-for-20 for 93 yards passing with two interceptions this season and has ran 42 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns. 

Kentucky is beat up, too, with 12 players listed as out and four listed as probable on Thursday night’s injury report update.

“Our guys are beat down pretty good,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference. “We got to get our guys healthy this week. We have a have to have a really strong week of practice and prepare for a great challenge ahead of us, and we have a lot to improve on. So that’s what we’re focusing on right now.”