College football’s top 5 matchups of Week 9

4. No. 21 Tennessee vs. Kentucky – Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Kentucky and Tennessee have one of the longest-running rivalries in college football as the two programs have played 118 games dating all the way back to 1893. Outside of a nice stretch by Kentucky in the 1950s, the Volunteers have absolutely dominated the rivalry, winning 83 of the 118 contests that have been played. Since 1985, the Wildcats have only beaten the Vols three times, but a couple of those have come somewhat recently in 2017 and 2020.

Last year, the Vols dominated the Wildcats once again, but this year’s contest figures to be a little closer with Tennessee currently slated as just 3.5-point favorites. Tennessee is currently 5-2 and looking to avenge a tough loss at Alabama last weekend. The Vols’ other loss came in another SEC road contest at Florida. When Tennessee has been at its best this year, it’s been thanks to a top-10 rushing offense led by Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson, and a strong defensive unit overall, both of which will be needed in Lexington on Saturday.

The Vols will have to prove they can take their game to the road this weekend, particularly against a Kentucky team that had been terrific at home until losing 38-21 at Kroger Field to Missouri a couple of weekends ago. It was the second straight loss for the Wildcats after they were blown out by Georgia earlier this month following a 5-0 start. Like Tennessee, Kentucky is led on offense by its run game which includes transfer Ray Davis who has run for nearly 800 yards this year, but the defense will have to be better than it has the last few weeks for the Wildcats to earn their 27th win of this storied rivalry.