The No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers will host the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats in SEC play on Tuesday night and the rivals will both be looking to rebound from a loss on Saturday. Tennessee is 17-3 on the season and 4-3 in the SEC, while Kentucky is now 14-5 overall and 3-3 in league play. These programs have split their last 10 head-to-head meetings both straight up and against the spread, but the Wildcats did score a win over the Volunteers on the road last season as 7.5-point underdogs. Lamont Butler is out for Kentucky and the Wildcats list Andrew Carr as available after initially being listed as questionable.
Tipoff in Knoxville, Tenn., is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Volunteers are 10.5-point favorites in the latest Tennessee vs. Kentucky odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 146.5. Before entering any Kentucky vs. Tennessee picks, check out the college basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The model simulates every Division 1 college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters Week 13 of the 2024-25 season on a 202-142 betting roll (+2468) on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to 2023. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Tennessee vs. Kentucky. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball betting lines and trends for Kentucky vs. Tennessee:
- Tennessee vs. Kentucky spread: Tennessee -10.5
- Tennessee vs. Kentucky over/under: 146.5 points
- Tennessee vs. Kentucky money line: Tennessee -575, Kentucky +418
- UT: The Volunteers have covered in 13 of their last 19 games
- UK: The Wildcats have covered in three of their last four against Tennessee
- Tennessee vs. Kentucky picks: See picks at SportsLine
- Tennessee vs. Kentucky streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
Why you should back Tennessee
The Volunteers dropped to eighth in the AP Top 25 after a heartbreaking 53-51 loss to No. 1 Auburn on the road last Saturday. It was a tough night offensively for both teams, with Tennessee shooting 31.5% from the floor and going 4-for-22 from the 3-point line. However, Zakai Zeigler had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, while only committing one turnover in the loss.
Zeigler played 39 minutes with the Tennessee rotation effectively shortened up to seven and he’ll have to have another big outing against Kentucky. Zeigler is averaging 12.3 points per game and leads the SEC with 7.5 assists a night. North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier leads the team with 18 points per game but he’s only shooting 30.5% from the floor over his last six games. See which team to pick here.
Why you should back Kentucky
Meanwhile, Kentucky is coming off 74-69 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday where it was ultimately undone by a whopping 17-5 disparity in the turnover column. Otega Oweh did manage to turn in a strong performance in the loss, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
The Wildcats rank third nationally in scoring average (88.1 ppg) and 10th in offensive rating (120.1) but have also given up 80 or more points in seven of their last 11 games. Kentucky has six players averaging at least 9.7 ppg (all transfers) and that scoring versatility will need to be an asset against one of the best defenses in the nation on Tuesday. See which team to pick here.
How to make Tennessee vs. Kentucky picks
SportsLine’s model is going over on the total, projecting 152 combined points. It also says one side of the spread hits over 60% of the time. You can only get the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Kentucky vs. Tennessee and which side of the spread hits over 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that is up nearly $2,500 on its college basketball picks dating back to 2023, and find out.
