Opening Kentucky vs Tennessee Odds, Spread & Total for Sweet 16 – Volunteers Favored

• The opening Kentucky vs Tennessee odds have been released for the Sweet 16
• The #2 Volunteers are favorites over their SEC rivals even though UK won both regular-season meetings
• See the opening Kentucky vs Tennessee odds, including spread, moneyline, and total

The #2 Tennessee Volunteers (29-7, 19-17 ATS) cruised through their first two games of the 2025 NCAA Tournament without much resistance. But oddsmakers believe the road will get tougher in the Sweet 16, where UT will face the #3 Kentucky Wildcats (24-11, 18-17 ATS). These SEC rivals will meet in Indianapolis, IN, on Friday, March 28th. The opening Kentucky vs Tennessee odds set the better-seeded Volunteers as betting favorites.

Kentucky vs Tennessee Odds for Sweet 16

Tennessee is laying 4.5 points in the opening line and has been priced as a -218 moneyline favorite, which gives UT a 68.55% implied win probability. The Wildcats come back as +180 underdogs, which amounts to a 35.71% implied win probability. The game total has opened at 145.5 with -110 odds each way.

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Tennessee fans didn’t have to sweat much during the first or second round when the #2 Vols took care of #15 Wofford (77-62 as 17.5-point favorites) and #7 UCLA (67-58 as 5.5-point favorites). Leading scorer and All-SEC Second Teamer Chaz Lanier (18.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.1 APG) led the Vols in scoring in both games, dropping 29 against Wofford and 20 against the Bruins.

Kentucky was equally impressive in its first and second-round games. The Wildcats put away #14 Troy early, taking an eight-point lead into halftime and stretching it to 19 by the end of 40 minutes. Otega Oweh scored a game-high 20 points with eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

The Troy win was one of the better defensive performances of the season by Mark Pope’s team of transfers, holding the Trojans to just 35% shooting from the field. In the second round, an offensive explosion led Kentucky to an 84-75 win over #6 Illinois as 2.5-point underdogs.

After scoring zero points in 25 minutes in his first game back from injury against Troy, point guard Lamont Butler looked much better against the Illini, finishing with 14 points, five assists, and two rebounds in 32 minutes. Koby Brea, a 6’7 “guard”, had a game-high 23 points on a 10-of-16 performance from the field along with six rebounds.

The Volunteers rate considerably better at all analytics sites than the Wildcats but, as mentioned, Kentucky won both regular-season meetings: 78-73 in Knoxville and 75-64 in Lexington.

Both wins were consummate team efforts by the Wildcats. In the road win, every starter scored in double-figures led by Koby Brea’s 18. In the home win, Otega Oweh and Ansley Almonorled UK with just 13 points apiece. Tennessee leading scorer Chaz Lanier scored 25 total points in the pair of losses while shooting 8-of-27 from the field.

UK vs TENN Ratings Comparison

UK stats above are from prior to Sunday’s win over Illinois.

The lowest that Tennessee has been ranked at KenPom this season was #14 heading into its second game of the season. The Vols climbed into the top ten with a 77-55 win over Louisville on November 9th and haven’t left since. They were rated as high as #2 from Dec. 3rd to Dec. 12th and have been in the top five since Feb. 5th .

Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler (13.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 7.4 APG) was elected to the All-SEC First Team, while Jahmai Mashak (6.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.6 SPG) and Zeigler were elected to the All-Defensive Team, the latter despite his 5’9 stature.

With a team composed entirely of transfers and freshmen, Mark Pope’s Wildcats started the year rated just 43rd at KenPom but moved as high as ninth after a 9-1 start. A mediocre 10-8 SEC campaign dropped them to 16th entering the NCAA Tournament.