ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt is back with his weekly ‘Winners’ segment in 2025.
His card for Week 2 includes a pick on Ole Miss vs. Kentucky, which serves as the first SEC vs. SEC game of the 2025 college football season. Van Pelt is going with the Wildcats +8.5 points.
“Ole Miss, they’re scary to go against,” Van Pelt said. “They can score a million. But we had Kentucky in Oxford last year and they won outright. We’re on the ‘Cats again at home here.”
In the history of this segment, Van Pelt is 9-5 against the spread when picking Kentucky, per ESPN.
This line was as high as Ole Miss -10.5 earlier this week at some sportsbooks, but it’s now approaching 8 points.
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Ole Miss and Kentucky have historically played very close games. The last 4 meetings in this series were decided by a combined 10 points. None of those matchups were decided by more than 3 points.
As Van Pelt alluded to, Kentucky pulled off a big upset against the Rebels in Oxford last season. That makes this a revenge spot for Lane Kiffin and Co. as they seek to build a College Football Playoff-worthy résumé in 2025.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
