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College Basketball

Kentucky Wildcats

College Basketball

The Wildcats won 19 of 23 games as favorites in 2025-26 and 2 of 11 as underdogs, and both of those upsets came on SEC road floors in January. Against the spread the season landed exactly level, 17 and 17.

Favored most nights

Kentucky was favored 23 times. Six of those games, all at home with spreads from 32.5 to 42.5 points, carried no moneyline, so the favorite moneyline record covers 17 games: one unit on each made 1.68. The Wildcats covered 12 of the 23 favorite spreads.

The Wildcats at home, away, as favorite and as underdogHome (18)won 14 (77.8%)covered 9 of 18 (50.0%)Away (10)won 4 (40.0%)covered 5 of 10 (50.0%)Favorite (23)won 19 (82.6%)covered 12 of 23 (52.2%)Underdog (11)won 2 (18.2%)covered 5 of 11 (45.5%)50%
2025-26 regular season. Neutral-site games are in neither home nor away. Source: ESPN results and pre-game lines.

The favorite defeats that hurt came at home and at short prices: 73-68 to Missouri at -900, 67-64 to North Carolina at -305 and 86-78 to Georgia at -298.

Two January road wins

As underdogs the Wildcats went 2-9, and the 11 underdog moneylines lost 4.4 units. The two wins came within a fortnight: 80-78 at Tennessee at +220 on 17 January and 85-77 at Arkansas at +240 on 31 January. That made January a 6-3 month and 2.76 units up, even though Kentucky covered only three of its nine spreads.

One unit on the Wildcats to win, every game0-4-3-2-1+1-2.72 unitsfirst gamelast game
Running total over 28 priced 2025-26 regular-season games, at the pre-game moneyline. Source: ESPN results and pre-game lines.

February flipped it: 4-3 straight up, six covers in seven, but 0.78 units lost.

The season line

Over 34 games Kentucky went 21-13, 14-4 at home and 4-6 on the road, and covered 17. A flat unit across the 28 Wildcat games with a price came to a 2.72-unit loss. Seventeen overs, 17 unders. Six games were on neutral floors: losses to Michigan State as a -175 favorite and to Gonzaga 94-59, a 78-66 win over St. John’s, and three SEC tournament games.

The Wildcats 2025-26 regular season, game by game2025-11-04 v Nicholls Colonels 77-512025-11-07 v Valparaiso Beacons 107-592025-11-11 at Louisville Cardinals 88-962025-11-14 v Eastern Illinois Panthers 99-532025-11-18 v Michigan State Spartans 66-832025-11-21 v Loyola Maryland Greyhounds 88-462025-11-26 v Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 104-542025-12-02 v North Carolina Tar Heels 64-672025-12-05 v Gonzaga Bulldogs 59-942025-12-09 v North Carolina Central Eagles 103-672025-12-13 v Indiana Hoosiers 72-602025-12-20 v St. John's Red Storm 78-662025-12-23 v Bellarmine Knights 99-852026-01-03 at Alabama Crimson Tide 74-892026-01-07 v Missouri Tigers 68-732026-01-10 v Mississippi State Bulldogs 92-682026-01-14 at LSU Tigers 75-742026-01-17 at Tennessee Volunteers 80-782026-01-21 v Texas Longhorns 85-802026-01-24 v Ole Miss Rebels 72-632026-01-27 at Vanderbilt Commodores 55-802026-01-31 at Arkansas Razorbacks 85-772026-02-04 v Oklahoma Sooners 94-782026-02-07 v Tennessee Volunteers 74-712026-02-14 at Florida Gators 83-922026-02-17 v Georgia Bulldogs 78-862026-02-21 at Auburn Tigers 74-752026-02-24 at South Carolina Gamecocks 72-632026-02-28 v Vanderbilt Commodores 91-772026-03-03 at Texas A&M Aggies 85-962026-03-07 v Florida Gators 77-842026-03-11 v LSU Tigers 87-822026-03-12 v Missouri Tigers 78-722026-03-13 v Florida Gators 63-71Wins above the line, losses below; bar length is the margincovered the spreaddid not cover0
21-13 in 34 games. Source: ESPN results and pre-game lines.

SEC opponents

Florida beat Kentucky three times, the last in the SEC quarterfinal, though Kentucky covered two of the three. Tennessee lost both meetings, worth 3.07 units. In the NCAA tournament Kentucky beat Santa Clara 89-84 and lost 82-63 to Iowa State.

The Wildcats against the teams they played mostFlorida Gators0-3, covered 2LSU Tigers2-0, covered 0Missouri Tigers1-1, covered 1Tennessee Volunteers2-0, covered 2Vanderbilt Commodores1-1, covered 1
2025-26 regular season; dark is wins, light the games played. Source: ESPN results and pre-game lines.

Questions and answers

How did Kentucky do as an underdog in 2025-26?

2-9, with both wins on the road in January at +220 and +240.

How did Kentucky do against Florida?

0-3, including the SEC quarterfinal, with two covers.

Did Kentucky cover the spread more often than not?

No: 17 covers and 17 misses in 34 games.

College Basketball teams