How and what to watch for South Carolina vs. Kentucky

Two of the SEC’s worst offenses will duel Saturday night when the South Carolina Gamecocks travel to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

Entering its third game under interim head coach Mike Bobo, South Carolina has little at stake. By most accounts, the athletic department has pursued outside candidates for the full-time position previously held by Will Muschamp. While Bobo could receive courtesy consideration for the job, his time in Columbia appears nearing an end.

Meanwhile, the team still lacks an obvious direction at the most important position. Collin Hill has not impressed this season, throwing as many picks as touchdowns (six) while completing less than 60% of his passes. His backups, Luke Doty and former starter Ryan Hilinski, haven’t fared much better in their limited exposure.

Still, Saturday’s game could remain competitive due to Kentucky’s problems. The Wildcats offense has only mustered more than 10 points once in the past month and a half. The lone exception, a 38-25 win on Nov. 14, came over the 0-8 Vanderbilt Commodores who just fired their head coach earlier this week. Kentucky, which lost its best player (multi-position talent Lynn Bowden) and best offensive lineman (Logan Stenberg) to the 2020 NFL Draft, has not found adequate replacements.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch South Carolina versus Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: South Carolina vs. Kentucky (-10.5)
Point Total: 46.5
Money line: South Carolina (+340) vs. Kentucky (-455)

• South Carolina boasts a 14-11-1 road record against the spread (12-9-1 as the road underdog) since the start of 2015.
• During the same period, the Gamecocks also have an over record of 11-15-0 on the road (9-13-0 as the road underdog).
• Since 2015, Kentucky has a home record of 17-24-0 against the spread (10-17-0 as the home favorite).
• Also during that period, the Wildcats have an over record of 24-16-1 at home (18-9-0 as the home favorite).

Betting Splits

South Carolina: (35% of action, 74% of bets)
Kentucky: (65% of action, 26% of bets)

The Best Bet

Kentucky home games tend to hit the over in recent years. While that means putting faith in two poor offenses, the point total falls low enough to make it palatable.

Pick: Over 48.5

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