Tennessee and Kentucky have met a whopping 120 times on the gridiron, and yet this weekend’s matchup between the two carries implications that their previous contests rarely have.
With both the Wildcats and Volunteers ranked inside the Top 15 of the initial College Football Playoff rankings and still eyeing a trip to the SEC Championship Game, Neyland Stadium figures to be rocking as their team hopes to make it 6 wins in a row over their rivals.
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Ahead of the weekend’s slate of games, ESPN’s Greg McElroy took to his “Always College Football” show to provide his picks for the week, and he believes that Tennessee will emerge victorious at home by a score of 28-20.
“They’ll cover the -6.5, and we’re on the under 50.5,” McElroy said. “Kentucky has won close games all year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do it in this one, but I think Tennessee gets it done and covers the numbers on Knoxville.”
As for McElroy’s keys to the game, he had 5 of them:
- How far do 40 carries take Tennessee?
- Does Kentucky’s run game make Tennessee’s pass rush wait?
- Which QB does Mi’quise Humphrey-Grace get to chase?
- Does Tennessee stay small when Kentucky gets big?
- What if Tennessee has to throw it 40 times?
Parker is currently the sports editor for Gulf Coast Media in Foley, Alabama. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
