Kentucky vs. Tennessee odds, line: College basketball picks, predictions from advanced model on 107-79 roll

The No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers will host the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats in SEC hoops action Saturday afternoon with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on CBS and CBSSports.com. The Vols are 2.5-point favorites with the total at 141 in the latest Kentucky vs. Tennessee odds. Both teams are tied with LSU for first place in the SEC at 13-2 and all three of those teams are hoping to add the title to their résumé to improve their seeding in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. So the action should be tournament-like and before you make your Kentucky vs. Tennessee picks, you’re definitely going to want to check out the college basketball predictions from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has raked in the winnings for those following its picks. Over the past two years, the SportsLine Projection Model has returned nearly $4,200 to $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks. It also entered Week 17 of the 2018-19 college basketball season on a blistering 107-79 run against the spread. Anyone who has followed it is way up. 

Now it has locked in on Kentucky vs. Tennessee. We can tell you it is leaning to the over, and it also has a strong pick against the spread, saying one side hits in almost 60 percent of simulations. That one is only available at SportsLine. 

For Saturday’s epic showdown, the model knows that Kentucky holds a major advantage on the glass. In the first game between these two teams, Kentucky overpowered Tennessee on both the offensive and defensive boards for a 39-26 edge. The Wildcats grabbed 41.4 percent of available offensive rebound opportunities and secured an impressive 75 percent of defensive rebound opportunities.

Power forward Reid Travis, who is expected to miss this game, was predictably a force on the boards with three offensive rebounds and eight total rebounds on the night. But Tyler Herro’s ability to get on the end of long rebounds proved to be Tennessee’s biggest problem. The guard had 11 rebounds and finished with 15 points in Kentucky’s 86-69 win at Rupp Arena.

However, don’t expect the Vols make it easy for the Wildcats to cover the Kentucky vs. Tennessee spread on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena. 

While Kentucky deserves obvious credit for the way it rebounded and the way it defended without fouling against Tennessee, it seems statistically unlikely that the Volunteers will shoot just 28 percent from 3-point range, and that they’ll be on the bad end of a 15-free throw disparity again. Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner both made some big shots down the stretch in Tennessee’s away win over Ole Miss, and if they can shoot it well it should bring Tennessee’s offense back up to speed.

With upperclassmen like Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield leading the way, you can expect Tennessee to address the physical imbalance on display in the first meeting. If that pair can get hot, Kentucky will have its hands full Saturday.

Who wins Kentucky vs. Tennessee? And which side of the spread hits in almost 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Tennessee vs. Kentucky spread you should be all over, all from the model that has returned more than $4,000 to $100 players the past two years.