The Florida Gators take on the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, KY. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. ET on ESPN.
Kentucky is favored by 3.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -180. The total is set at 166.5 points.
Here are my Florida vs. Kentucky predictions and college basketball picks for January 4, 2025.
Florida vs Kentucky Odds
| Florida Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total Points | Moneyline |
+3.5 -105 | 166.5 -110 / -110 | +150 |
| Kentucky Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total Points | Moneyline |
-3.5 -115 | 166.5 -110 / -110 | -180 |
- Florida vs Kentucky spread: Kentucky -3.5
- Florida vs Kentucky over/under: 166.5 points
- Florida vs Kentucky moneyline: Kentucky -180, Florida +150
- Florida vs Kentucky best bet: Kentucky -2.5 or Better
My Florida vs Kentucky best bet is on the Wildcats spread, with the best odds currently available at FanDuel. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
My Florida vs Kentucky NCAAB Betting Preview
This should be an outstanding matchup on Saturday afternoon in Lexington, as the 13-0 Florida Gators enter with the nation's longest winning streak.
The Gators, led by head coach Todd Golden, have been the season's biggest surprise thus far. Everybody expected the Gators to be a good basketball team, but nobody thought they would be undefeated at this point.
But I'm here to tell you that the magical run will end on Saturday.
Despite entering the matchup ninth in adjusted offensive efficiency, the Gators have been one of the luckiest teams in the country. According to ShotQuality, the Gators should have at least two losses.
Their strength of schedule entering the matchup is 225th, which is shockingly high, so I think we need to pump the brakes a bit.
Florida is a terrific offensive rebounding team, entering the matchup second in the country in that category. The Gators should win the battle on the boards against Kentucky, but I don't think that'll be enough for them to win on the road.
I don’t like the fact that Florida doesn't get to the free throw line very often, and it only shoots 73% from the stripe. The Gators are also shooting 34% from 3, and despite being a strong shooting team, that number is going to decrease eventually with the number of 3s that they shoot.
Also, Florida's opponents are shooting only 26% from deep, which is second in the country. That will change rapidly, as it's unsustainable for teams to continue to shoot that poorly from the floor.
Kentucky enters the matchup 85th in strength of schedule, and its offense is just as electric as the Gators'. It's 11th in adjusted offensive efficiency, it protects the basketball extremely well and it has a much deeper and lengthier team.
The Wildcats are more prepared to face a high-caliber opponent in this spot.
Both teams love to run up and down the floor on offense, so I don't see a problem with Kentucky keeping up the pace.
I think Kentucky is also due for some negative regression moving forward, but it's been much more challenged so far.
I'm willing to lay 2.5 points on Kentucky if I have to. Let’s be real, folks: I think the Gators are one of the most talented teams in the country, led by one of the best backcourts in the entire nation. However, there's no way I'm going to buy the Gators at a premium price in the market.
This is a terrific time to sell the Florida stock high and buy Kentucky.
Pick: Kentucky ATS
