SELECTION: LOUISVILLE -11½ over Kentucky
In the season opener for a couple of in-state rivals, the Kentucky Wildcats take on Louisville at the Cardinals Papa John's Stadium. First-year head coach Guy Morriss and his Wildcats took their share of lumps last year as the team finished the year with only two victories. Kentucky had problems on both sides of the ball, scoring just 24 points an outing, while allowing 33.5 points per game. Meanwhile, Louisville continued to dominate Conference-USA, finishing the year with an 11-2 overall mark and claiming the C-USA crown for the second straight year. In the Liberty Bowl, they shocked BYU 28-10 to finish as the 17th-ranked team in the nation.
The leader of the Redbird attack is once again Dave Ragone, who enters the season with an outside chance at the Heisman Trophy. Ragone is 20-5 as a starter for Louisville and has an unbelievable touchdown-to-interception ratio of 50-9. The one serious concern for the team is the offensive line where just one starter returns. Only one starter has been lost from the entire defensive unit, so their stop crew figures to be strong from the start. This is a big-play defense, as they forced 31 turnovers last year and in the past 2 years combined have recorded a national-best 96 sacks!
Kentucky on the other hand, has holes all over to fill, with the exception of quarterback. Jared Lorenzen is back under center; however, he'll be without 2 of his 3 favorite targets this year. Only 4 starters are back on defense which does not bode well for slowing down Louisville. The Kentucky secondary is thin and a bit banged up which could spell disaster for this game.
Louisville has taken the last three contests in this annual Kentucky clash, beating the Wildcats AND the spread by an average of 20 points! This one should be another lop-sided Redbird rout. They are 3-1 ATS in the last 2 years as a double-digit favorite under 30 points, while Kentucky is a mirror opposite, going 1-3 ATS as a double-digit underdog the past 2 seasons.
PREDICTED FINAL SCORE: LOUISVILLE 38 KENTUCKY 14