The Ball State Cardinals finished with a record of 5-7 and a record of 3-5 in the MAC conference which led to a tie for the 4^th place in the West Conference in the MAC and the Cardinals missing a bowl game for the first time since the 2019 college football season. 

This season, the Cardinals enter the season with an over/under win total of 5 wins which means Ball State is projected to miss a bowl game for the 2^nd consecutive season, something that has not happened since the 2018-2019 college football seasons and base on Vegas odds are projected to be the 4^th worst team in the MAC while only being better than the Kent State Golden Flashes, Bowling Green Falcons, and Western Michigan Broncos.

Kentucky finished with a record of 7-6 overall and a record of 3-5 in the SEC which led to a tie for 4^th place in the SEC East and the Wildcats making a bowl game for the 7^th consecutive season with an appearance in the Music City Bowl which resulted in a 0-21 shutout loss against the Iowa Hawkeyes. 

This year, the Kentucky Wildcats enter the year with an over/under win total of 7 wins which means Kentucky is projected to make a bowl game for the 8^th consecutive year and based on Vegas odds is projected 6^th worst team in the SEC only better than the Vanderbilt Commodores, Missouri Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Mississippi State Bulldogs.

BookMaker has the Kentucky Wildcats listed as 25.5-point favorites at home against the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday in week 1 of the college football season. These teams have only played one other time in college football which occurred in 2001 and resulted in a 28-20 win for the Kentucky Wild Cats while the Ball State Cardinals covered as 10-point underdogs. Ball State finished last season 6-6 ATS overall, 4-2 ATS on the road, and 5-4 ATS as an underdog while Kentucky finished 8-5 ATS overall, 5-3 ATS at home, and 3-3 ATS as a favorite.

Kentucky is the more talented team this season and enters the series with an over/under win total of 7 wins while Ball State enters this season with an over/under win total of 5 wins. These teams have not played since the 2001 college football season which resulted in a 28-20 win for the Kentucky Wildcats. 

However, neither is projected to be a contender in their respective conferences as Ball State is projected to be the 4^th worst team in the MAC while the Kentucky Wildcats are projected to be the 6^th worst team in the SEC. However, I look for Kentucky to have a significant advantage on both sides of the ball in this matchup and for them to assert their advantage at home against the Ball State Cardinals at home in week 1 of the college football season which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Kentucky Wildcats -25 on BookMaker for this matchup in week 1 of the college football season on Saturday afternoon.