Georgia football double-digit favorite at upset-minded Kentucky

ATHENS — Georgia opened as a 12-point favorite over Kentucky according to VegasInsider.com on Sunday afternoon, but the line was listed at 10 points a few hours later.

The No. 6-ranked Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) play the No. 11-ranked Wildcats (7-1, 5-1) at 3:30 p.m. at Kroger Field in Lexington (TV: CBS, Radio: WSB 750 AM, 95.5 FM). The winner will play in the SEC Championship Game (4 p.m., Dec. 1).

The game will decide the SEC East Division.

Kentucky has been a double-digit underdog in two other games this season, at Florida and against Mississippi State, and the Wildcats won both games outright.

Georgia won the SEC Championship game last season over Auburn, beating the Tigers 28-7 en route to a 54-48 (2ot) Rose Bowl win in a College Football Playoff Semifinal and 26-23 loss to Alabama in the CFB title game.

Kentucky is coming off a 15-14 win at Missouri.

The Wildcats are looking to make what would be their first-ever trip to the SEC Championship Game, which came into existence in 1992 when the league added Arkansas and South Carolina.

Kentucky is one of only four programs that has not played in the SEC Championship Game. The others are Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. The Aggies joined the league along with Missouri in 2012.

Georgia beat the Wildcats last season 42-13 in Athens and has won eight straight in the annual series dating back to a 34-27 Kentucky win in Athens in 2009.

Against the spread

Georgia has been favored in all of its games this season, it’s only loss coming at No. 4 LSU when it was a 7-point road favorite.

The Bulldogs are 4-4 against the spread, covering against South Carolina (41-17, -9), Middle Tennessee (49-7, -34), Vanderbilt (41-13, -26) and Florida (36-17, -7).

The Georgia losses against the spread were to: Austin Peay (45-0, -48), Missouri (43-29, -14.5), Tennessee (38-12, -30.5) and LSU (16-36, -7).

Kentucky has been favored in three of its eight games, with a “pick ‘em” designations against South Carolina.

The Wildcats are also 4-4 against the spread, covering against Florida (27-16, +13.5), Mississippi State (28-7, +10), South Carolina (24-10, PickEm), and Missouri (15-14, +7).

Kentucky has not covered in the three games it has been favored: Central Michigan (35-20, -17), Murray State (48-10, -41) and Vanderbilt (14-7, -11), and it did not cover in a loss at Texas A&M (14-20, +5.5).