Kentucky vs NC State: TaxSlayer Gator Prediction, Game Preview

Kentucky vs NC State: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl prediction and game preview

Kentucky vs NC State: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl prediction and game preview.


Kentucky vs NC State: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Broadcast

Date: Saturday, January 2
Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
Venue: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL
Network: ESPN

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Kentucky (4-6) vs NC State (8-3) Game Preview

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Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

Sometimes bowl games are just bowl games, and sometimes they’re season-definers. It’s the latter for these two but for completely different reasons.

Kentucky had a disappointing losing campaign, but it’s in the bowl it likely would’ve been in had the schedule been normal – assume it would’ve had a few non-conference wins to build up the record. For a team that relies on a rock-steady style of play, it’s been a flaky year with a whole slew of blowouts for both good and bad. Winning this would make the season. On the flip side …

NC State had a strong record, it was the only team to beat Liberty, and it comes in this on a four-game winning streak. It’s not the most scintillating of teams, but it finds ways to get wins. It’s the sixth bowl game under head coach Dave Doeren after going 3-2 with the Wolfpack, while Kentucky’s Mark Stoops has won two in a row with this his fifth straight bowl appearance.

The SEC has owned this bowl over the last several seasons, going 5-1 – including a Texas A&M blowout over NC State in 2018, and with the lone loss a Kentucky gaffe to Georgia Tech in 2016 – but last year it took an epic finish for Tennessee to slip past Indiana. This matchup might not be that, but it should be close.

Why Kentucky, NC State Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History

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