History favors Tennessee in head-to-head matchups with Kentucky

Kentucky football will have to overcome a lot of history to beat Tennessee on Saturday.

Kentucky football enters week ten of the college football season looking to avoid a fourth straight loss. The Wildcats have struggled mightily in SEC play, going 1 – 5 in versus conference opponents, and the Tennessee Volunteers are up next.

The Volunteers, however, are having a tremendous season. They’re 6 – 1 overall and 3 – 1 in the SEC, and currently ranked seventh in the US LBM Coaches Poll. It will be a tall order for Kentucky, and history doesn’t favor them.

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The Wildcats and Volunteers have met 119 times, and Tennessee has won 84 of them compared to Kentucky’s 26. Recent history has been drastically in favor of the Vols as well.

Since winning 8-of-12 games from 1953 to 1964, it’s been virtually all Tennessee. Kentucky has only won seven times in the 59 years since. At one point, Tennessee won 26 in a row.

Kentucky last won in 2020, in blowout fashion. Last year, the Cats lost a close one, 33 – 27.

History, both recent and not-so-recent, seems to indicate a Tennessee win on Saturday. The Wildcats will try to beat a whole lot of history on Saturday.