Author
Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetKentucky.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
A streak eight years in the making is fully on the line in Lexington, as the Kentucky Wildcats enter their Saturday evening showdown inside The Swamp needing to finish 3-3 or better to make a bowl game this fall.
Despite pulling off an upset over sixth-ranked Ole Miss two weeks ago, Kentucky enters Saturday’s showdown against Florida with a 3-3 record with games against 11th ranked Tennessee (in Knoxville on Nov. 2), No. 1 ranked Texas (in Austin on Nov. 23) and Louisville (at home on Nov. 30) to come.
This weekend, oddsmakers from Bet365 Kentucky have Mark Stoops’ bunch down as a 1.5-point road favorite over the Gators, with a -120 moneyline on UK, compared with +100 for UF.
At BetKentucky.com, your trusted source for Kentucky sports betting coverage, we developed exclusive odds on which bowl game the Kentucky Wildcats will play in based on the team’s one-point home loss to Georgia on Saturday night.
Bowl | Location | Conference Opponent | Odds | Percentage Chance |
Birmingham Bowl | Birmingham, AL | Vs. ACC | +100 | 50.0% |
TaxAct Texas Bowl | Houston, TX | Vs. Big 12 | +350 | 22.2% |
AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Memphis, TN | Vs. Big 12 | +700 | 12.5% |
TransPerfect Music City Bowl | Nashville, TN | Vs. Big Ten | +1800 | 5.3% |
The Field/No Bowl |
|
| +900 | 10.0% |
Odds provided by BetKentucky and not available at Kentucky betting apps.
Entering Kentucky’s crucial road clash with Florida, the odds are in favor of the Wildcats making a trek to the heart of the Yellowhammer State, with the Birmingham Bowl having the best odds of landing Stoops’ team this year.
Overall, the Alabama bowl game has +100 odds of landing UK this bowl season, beating out Houston’s TaxAct Texas Bowl (+350), Memphis’ AutoZone Liberty Bowl (+700) and Nashville’s TransPerfect Music City Bowl (+1800).
There are also +900 odds that UK either misses out on bowl season entirely or plays in another game not mentioned above, with the Wildcats likely needing to take care of business against teams like Florida, Auburn (Oct. 26 at home) and Murray State (Nov. 16) to get to six wins this season.
For now, Stoops and the Wildcats are looking to turn a corner as a program when UK heads to Gainesville to play fellow 3-3 SEC program Florida inside The Swamp on Saturday night.
Year | Bowl | Result |
2023 | Gator Bowl | Loss, 38-35 against Clemson |
2022 | Music City Bowl | Loss, 21-0 against Iowa |
2021 | Citrus Bowl | Win, 20-17 against Iowa |
2020 | Gator Bowl | Win, 23-21 against NC State |
2019 | Belk Bowl | Win, 37-30 against Virginia Tech |
As stated earlier, Kentucky’s recent bowl game track record is pretty hit-or-miss, with wins in four straight postseason contests from 2018 to 2021, followed by a pair of losses in 2022 and 2023 in Nashville and Jacksonville.
In total, Stoops has gone 4-4 in bowl games as the head coach of the Wildcats, with the longtime CFB leader hoping to add a fifth this winter, as UK tries to improve upon their 7-6 record in each of the last two seasons in Lexington.
Also of interest: Kentucky 2024 Win Total: Trends of 6.5 Win Total Teams.
USA Today photo by Jeff Faughender.
Kentucky is currently projected to play in the Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham, AL against an ACC school with the odds at +100 (50.0% chance).
The Wildcats do not yet have enough wins to be bowl eligible. Their most recent bowl game was in the 2023 Gator Bowl loss against Clemson.
Author
Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetKentucky.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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