Kentucky-Louisville scuffle

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Put your racing programs down for few hours, but do not close your wagering apps.

A tasty string of college football future point spreads and projected win totals arrived in my messages from Brian Edwards, a senior handicapper at VegasInsider.

Here is the safest bet for a number that will grab your attention: Jeff Brohm's second University of Louisville football team opened as a 1-point favorite to beat Mark Stoops and the University of Kentucky on Nov. 30 at Kroger Field.

Remember, depending upon your preferred establishment, the Cards were either 7.5- or 8-point favorites to handle the Wildcats last season at L&N Cardinal Stadium.

Kentucky 38, Louisville 31.

That was Kentucky's fifth consecutive victory in the Governor's Cup.

Now, Edwards says Louisville is the pick by a point at DraftKings.

Hmmm. Both squads lost their starting quarterbacks. Maybe Vegas likes Tyler Shough of Louisville more than it likes Brock Vandagriff of Kentucky. Shough certainly has more experience and substantial career numbers.

In five seasons at Oregon and Texas Tech, Shough completed 355 of 562 passes (63.2%) for 4,625 yards with 36 touchdowns and 17 picks.

Vandagriff left Georgia for Lexington after three back-up seasons with the Bulldogs. He completed 12 of 21 passes (57.1%) for 165 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.

Edwards said three other Louisville games made the DraftKings board.

Louisville opened as a 10-point underdog when it travels Sept. 28 to Notre Dame. That will be the Cards' first road game. They open with three home games games against Austin Peay, Jacksonville State and Georgia Tech.

Louisville split its first two trips to South Bend, winning in 2014 under Bobby Petrino and Reggie Bonnafon but losing with Scott Satterfield in 2020. The Cards defeated the Fighting Irish here last Oct. 7, 33-20. I believe several thousand fans stormed the field.

Notre Dame is ranked No. 9 in ESPN's respected SP+ index for next season. The Cards are No. 24. The Irish replaced quarterback Sam Hartman by signing Duke's Riley Leonard from the transfer portal.

That is the same Leonard who went 9 for 23 for 121 yards with no touchdowns and an interception when Louisville defeated Duke 23-0 last Oct. 28.

Earlier in the offseason, Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com ranked Notre Dame fifth in the nation. Max Chadwick of ProFootballFocus.com ranked Notre Dame 8th and Louisville 13th.

The Cards opened as a 9.5-point underdog for their Nov. 2 trip to Clemson. Louisville did not play the Tigers last season. Clemson is ranked 12th at ProFootballFocus, 17th at CBS Sports and 16th at ESPN's SP+.

The final Louisville game on the DraftKings board is the home game Oct. 19 with the Miami Hurricanes. Jeff Brohm's team opened as 1-point favorite. Louisville clinched a spot in the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference title game by winning at Miami, 38-31.

More interesting DraftKings tidbits from Edwards:

Louisville appears to be slotted as the fourth-best team in the ACC.

The teams are ranked in this order:

  1. Florida State (+280)
  2. Clemson (+290)
  3. Miami (+450)
  4. Louisville (+500)

To translate, if you bet $100 on the Cards to win the ACC regular-season title, you'll win $500.

The odds of Kentucky winning the Southeastern Conference championship game are 100-1.

Indiana is 150-1 and Purdue 300-to-1 to win the Big Ten, a bit of an eye-opener considering this will be Curt Cignetti's first season in Bloomington and the Hoosiers have lost three straight and five of their last six games against the Boilermakers.

*Finally, Edwards says these season win totals are available for wagering. Remember, the totals are for regular season games only. Postseason games don't count.

  • Louisville: 8.5 wins
    • The under is bet $130 to win $100. The over is bet $100 to win $110.
  • Kentucky: 6.5 wins
    • The under is bet $135 to win $100 while the over is bet $100 to win $115.
  • Indiana: 5 wins
    • The under is bet $120 to win $100 while the over is bet $100 to win $100.

Sorry, but DraftKings has not shared its projected win total for Western Kentucky.

Only 117 days until opening weekend.

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