No. 24 Kentucky at South Carolina — 4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Kentucky at South Carolina
Kentucky at South Carolina

Here’s an unusual matchup: Kentucky is ranked and 3-1, but 2-2 South Carolina is the slight favorite at home, with the line around 2½ to 3 points.

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That tells you something about how evenly matched these teams appear.

Kentucky’s path is straightforward: protect the football, play sound defense and force South Carolina to sustain drives. The Wildcats don’t want to give the Gamecocks easy scoring opportunities through turnovers or busted coverages.

South Carolina has the home-field advantage and enough offensive explosiveness to break open a close game, but consistency remains the question. This feels like the sort of SEC game that could still be undecided with five minutes remaining.

I’ll take the home team by a field goal.

Prediction: South Carolina 27, Kentucky 24