ATHENS — Georgia has protected its home turf like few others under Kirby Smart, and the oddsmakers have taken notice.
The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs opened as a 15-point favorite over SEC East challenger Kentucky in a matchup of unbeaten teams at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.
Georgia brings a 22-game home win streak — and 22-game overall win streak — into the matchup against a Wildcats team that slashed Florida in Lexington last Saturday.
Kentucky put a 33-14 beatdown on the once-proud Gators, jumping out to a 23-7 halftime lead behind the running of Vanderbilt transfer Ray Davis.
Davis had more than 200 yards by halftime, finishing with 280 yards and 3 touchdowns against Florida.
Georgia was going to be focused on its run game this week, anyway, after giving up more than 200 rushing yards to an opponent for the first time since 2018 in its 27-20 road win over Auburn.
There will be plenty of hype leading into the SEC East showdown between the Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 SEC) and Kentucky (5-0, 2-0), so Georgia’s success in the annual series will surely be mentioned more than once.
The Bulldogs have won 13 in a row over the Wildcats, including last season’s game in Lexington by a 16-6 count.
Here are the opening betting lines for the other SEC games, in addition to 2024 members Texas and Oklahoma:
Vanderbilt at Florida -17, 4 p.m.
LSU -6 at Missouri, noon
Oklahoma vs. Texas -5, noon
Arkansas at Ole Miss -9, 7:30 p.m.
W. Michigan at Mississippi St. -19, noon
Alabama -4 at Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m.
