Point spread released for Alabama's first trip to Kentucky in 10 years
Alabama opened Sunday as a 11-point favorite over Kentucky on Caesars Sportsbook when the Tide makes its first trip this Saturday to Lexington since 2013.
The game will kick off at 12 p.m. ET locally in Kroger Field. The 61,000-seat venue opened in 1973 is the SEC's third-smallest football stadium ahead of only Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium (28,500) and Mississippi State's Davis Wade Stadium (60,311).
It will mark Alabama's furthest trip north to an outdoor stadium after Halloween since the Tide played at Notre Dame in 1987. Forecast temperature at kickoff Saturday is about 50 degrees. The game will air on ESPN.
Alabama (8-1, 6-0 in SEC) would clinch the SEC West with a win. It would be Alabama's 15th and final time winning the division over its 32 seasons of existence (1992-2023). The SEC will eliminate divisions beginning in 2024.
Even with a loss to Kentucky -- which would effectively knock Alabama out of the College Football Playoff race -- the Tide would still clinch the SEC West if Ole Miss loses Saturday night to Georgia.
Kentucky began the season 5-0 and earned a No. 20 ranking before losing three consecutive games to Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee. The Wildcats beat Mississippi State, 24-3, on Saturday.
Alabama last played Kentucky in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2020, winning 63-3. That game was added to the Tide's schedule to fill out its 10-game, conference-only schedule necessitated by COVID. The last normally-scheduled meeting between the two schools came in 2016 in Tuscaloosa, a 34-6 win by Alabama.
The last time Alabama played in Lexington was 10 years ago, when Alabama's AJ McCarron-led offense piled up 668 yards in a 48-7 win.
Alabama has won seven consecutive games over Kentucky, with the Wildcats' last win coming in Lexington in 1997.
Alabama opened Sunday as a 11-point favorite over Kentucky on Caesars Sportsbook when the Tide makes its first trip this Saturday to Lexington since 2013.
The game will kick off at 12 p.m. ET locally in Kroger Field. The 61,000-seat venue opened in 1973 is the SEC's third-smallest football stadium ahead of only Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium (28,500) and Mississippi State's Davis Wade Stadium (60,311).
It will mark Alabama's furthest trip north to an outdoor stadium after Halloween since the Tide played at Notre Dame in 1987. Forecast temperature at kickoff Saturday is about 50 degrees. The game will air on ESPN.
Alabama (8-1, 6-0 in SEC) would clinch the SEC West with a win. It would be Alabama's 15th and final time winning the division over its 32 seasons of existence (1992-2023). The SEC will eliminate divisions beginning in 2024.
Even with a loss to Kentucky -- which would effectively knock Alabama out of the College Football Playoff race -- the Tide would still clinch the SEC West if Ole Miss loses Saturday night to Georgia.
Kentucky began the season 5-0 and earned a No. 20 ranking before losing three consecutive games to Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee. The Wildcats beat Mississippi State, 24-3, on Saturday.
Alabama last played Kentucky in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2020, winning 63-3. That game was added to the Tide's schedule to fill out its 10-game, conference-only schedule necessitated by COVID. The last normally-scheduled meeting between the two schools came in 2016 in Tuscaloosa, a 34-6 win by Alabama.
The last time Alabama played in Lexington was 10 years ago, when Alabama's AJ McCarron-led offense piled up 668 yards in a 48-7 win.
Alabama has won seven consecutive games over Kentucky, with the Wildcats' last win coming in Lexington in 1997.