Kentucky vs Alabama
Game played Sep 12, 2026 · Published September 12, 2026 at 10:22 AM · 16 pages
Projected score, total and win probability for Kentucky vs Alabama, priced against the betting line — with injuries, form and the key statistical mismatches.
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A F P L N A C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L M A T C H U P R E P O R T V S Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide 2026 Season G E N E R A T E D S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 2 6 1 0 : 1 2 A M I N T H I S R E P O R T 01 Matchup Overview 02 Visual Analytics 03 SP Ratings 04 ELO Ratings 05 FPI Ratings 06 SRS Ratings 07 Advanced Team Stats 08 Returning Production 09 Team Talent 10 Team PPA 11 Player PPA 12 Team Season Stats 13 Adjusted Team Metrics 14 Kentucky Wildcats Injury Updates 15 Alabama Crimson Tide Injury Updates 16 Key Player Matchups 17 Kentucky Wildcats Roster Updates 18 Alabama Crimson Tide Roster Updates 19 Kentucky Wildcats Practice and Scrimmage Updates 20 Alabama Crimson Tide Practice and Scrimmage Updates 21 Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide Media Matchup Analysis 22 Game Conditions and Betting Context 23 Final Prediction
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01 MATCHUP OVERVIEW This section sets the stage for Kentucky’s SEC opener against No. 12 Alabama at Kroger Field, including the series history, what the game means in Week 2, and the broadcast. Kentucky (1-0) hosts Alabama (1-0) in the Wildcats’ conference opener and the Crimson Tide’s first true road test of 2026, with ABC and Disney+ carrying the meeting. The series is not a series so much as a possession: Alabama leads 39-2-1. The ten most recent games in the file run almost entirely one way — Alabama 35-7 in 1996, Kentucky’s 40-34 home win in 1997, then Alabama 27-17 (2003), 45-17 at Kroger Field (2004), 17-14 (2008), 38-20 at Kroger Field (2009), 48-7 at Kroger Field (2013), 34-6 (2016), 63-3 (2020) and 49-21 at Kroger Field in 2023. Kentucky’s last win in this matchup is 29 years old and happened in this building; everything since has been a Tide recitation. 1 Both sides opened 2026 with the kind of result that tells you nothing and everything. Kentucky beat Youngstown State 45-13 at home; Alabama beat East Carolina 48-10 in Tuscaloosa. The Wildcats are trying to make Will Stein’s first SEC Saturday in Lexington sound like a problem, and Stein has already asked Kroger Field to be louder than it has been. Alabama is sending sophomore Keelon Russell out for his first road start and first SEC start, with a rebuilt offensive line that just lost its only returning starter. History says this is a mismatch. The injury report, the weather and a quarterback who has never heard this building on a wet Saturday are the only reasons the 2026 edition is even a conversation. 1 46 49 02 VISUAL ANALYTICS Generated directly from the CollegeFootballData feeds for this matchup. The same visuals appear on every report, so numbers can be compared like- for-like from one game to the next. GAME CONDITIONS · The forecast and the ground it will be played on: temperature, wind and precipitation beside the stadium's surface, roof, capacity and elevation. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 2 of 16
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POWER RATING DASHBOARD · SP+, FPI and Elo side by side. SP+ and FPI are points-above-average ratings; the SP+ defensive rating counts down, so a lower bar is the better defense. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 3 of 16
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EFFICIENCY PROFILE · Every advanced metric converted to a national percentile against all FBS teams, so the outer ring is always the better number regardless of which way the raw stat runs. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 4 of 16
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MISMATCH MATRIX · Each offense measured directly against the defense it will face. Bars show the percentile gap; the longer the bar, the wider that specific unit-vs-unit edge. SEASON FORM TREND · Week-by-week predicted points added. This is where you see a team trending up or falling apart, which season averages hide. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 5 of 16
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TOP INDIVIDUAL IMPACT · The players who have actually moved the needle, ranked by total PPA. Cross-reference this against the injury and roster sections. ROSTER CONTINUITY & TALENT · How much production each team returned from last season, alongside the recruiting talent composite. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 6 of 16
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PROJECTED MARGIN BY SYSTEM · What each rating system independently projects, plus the market line and the blended consensus used as the model's anchor. WIN PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION · The consensus margin spread across the historical error distribution for college football projections. The shaded area on each side is that team's win probability. 03 SP RATINGS SP+ is a points-above-average rating of overall team quality; the defensive number runs in reverse, so a lower defensive rating is the better defense. TEAM OVERALL OFFENSE DEFENSE SPECIAL TEAMS Kentucky 8.5 28.6 20.0 0.0 Alabama 20.0 33.0 12.6 -0.4 FBS average -0.13 25.9 26.0 0.01 Alabama’s 20.0 overall rating sits 11.5 points ahead of Kentucky’s 8.5, and the Power Rating Dashboard will show that gap in Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 7 of 16
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every bar that matters. The Tide offense (33.0) is a clear grade above the national mean of 25.9; Kentucky’s 28.6 is a respectable SEC attack that still gives away 4.4 points of offensive SP+ to the visitor. The defensive split is the real tell. Alabama’s 12.6 defensive rating is elite — roughly 13.4 points better than average, and 7.4 points better than Kentucky’s 20.0. Special teams are a wash: Kentucky at 0.0, Alabama a tick below at -0.4. 1 Translated onto Saturday’s field, SP+ is describing a Tide team that should both score more and prevent more, with the larger edge on the side that does not have the ball. Kentucky can hang offensively with a lot of this league; it cannot hang with a 12.6 SP+ defense unless that defense is missing bodies or playing in a monsoon. The first condition is partially true and the second is at least a light rain, which is why this number is the floor of Alabama’s advantage rather than the ceiling. A 11.5-point overall gap plus home field still leaves Alabama as a multi-score favorite on this rating alone, which is exactly what the dashboard’s SP+ bar is going to show. 1 04 ELO RATINGS Elo is a head-to-head power rating that moves only when you beat or lose to somebody; the gap is the cleanest single statement of “who has been better against actual opponents.” TEAM ELO Kentucky 1476 Alabama 1823 Alabama’s 1823 to Kentucky’s 1476 is a 347-point chasm. At the conversion used in this model — 25 Elo points per point of margin — that is about 13.9 points of raw separation before the 2.4-point home-field add, which is why Elo’s standalone projection in the Projected Margin by System chart lands at Alabama by 11.5. Elo does not care that Kentucky just hung 45 on Youngstown State. It cares that Alabama has spent years beating the people you are supposed to beat, and that 347 points is the residue of that. 1 What the gap implies for Saturday is simple: this is not a coin-flip power rating that a loud building and a backup guard can overturn by themselves. A 347-point Elo hole is the kind of deficit that gets closed by a catastrophic quarterback performance or a historic home-field night, not by a 1-0 Wildcats team that returned 19 percent of last year’s production. Elo is also the rating least fooled by Week 1 cupcakes, which is useful here, because both box scores are cupcakes. If you only had one number, this would be the one that tells you Alabama is still Alabama and Kentucky is still trying to become something else. 1 05 FPI RATINGS FPI measures points-above-average against an average opponent; the efficiency subscores (0–100) show where that value is coming from. TEAM FPI OVERALL EFF. OFFENSE DEFENSE SPECIAL TEAMS Kentucky 6.52 82.2 80.0 62.0 83.1 Alabama 22.47 91.6 77.0 95.5 72.4 Alabama’s 22.47 FPI versus Kentucky’s 6.52 is a 15.95-point talent-and-results gap, the widest of the three available systems, and it is almost entirely a defensive story. Alabama’s defensive efficiency of 95.5 is a top-shelf SEC unit; Kentucky’s 62.0 is the number of a defense that can be leaned on. The irony in the offensive efficiencies — Kentucky 80.0, Alabama 77.0 — is that FPI currently likes Stein’s offense slightly more than it likes Alabama’s, which tracks with the Week 1 PPA split and will show up as a narrower offensive bar on the Power Rating Dashboard. Special teams actually flip: Kentucky 83.1, Alabama 72.4. 1 FPI is therefore not describing two teams that are apart in every phase. It is describing a Tide defense that lives on a different planet from Kentucky’s, attached to an offense that is only fine, visiting a Kentucky team whose best argument is on offense and on special teams. That is a real shape, and it is the shape of a game Kentucky can keep in range only if Minchey is allowed to work and Alabama’s offense stays in the “fine” bucket. If Alabama’s 95.5 defense plays to the number, FPI’s 13.55-point projected margin (with home field) is not an overreaction. It is the rating doing its job. 1 06 SRS RATINGS No data was available for that section. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 8 of 16
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07 ADVANCED TEAM STATS These are opponent-unadjusted efficiency numbers from Week 1 — success rate, explosiveness, PPA per play, line yards, havoc and points per scoring opportunity — placed in national percentile context by the Efficiency Profile. METRIC KENTUCKY PERCENTILE ALABAMA PERCENTILE Off. PPA/play 0.562 89.1 0.292 59.4 Off. success rate 60.7% 91.3 52.5% 71.7 Off. explosiveness 1.198 43.5 1.107 27.5 Off. line yards 4.12 90.6 3.25 55.1 Off. pts/opportunity 6.43 94.2 5.86 86.2 Def. PPA/play 0.077 47.8 -0.199 87.7 Def. success rate 41.8% 31.9 22.0% 92.0 Def. explosiveness 1.146 63.0 1.548 11.6 Def. line yards 2.03 79.0 0.13 99.3 Def. havoc 16.4% 49.3 19.5% 61.6 Kentucky’s offense was a chains-moving machine against Youngstown State: 60.7 percent success, 0.56 PPA per play, 4.12 line yards, 6.43 points per scoring opportunity. Those are 89th-to-94th percentile figures on everything except explosiveness, where the Wildcats sit at a pedestrian 43rd. They win by staying on schedule and finishing, not by hitting explosives. Alabama’s offense was the opposite profile — 52.5 percent success, a modest 0.29 PPA, 55th-percentile line yards — and it still scored 48 because the Tide defense put the game in a vise. Alabama’s defensive success rate (22.0 percent, 92nd percentile) and line-yards number (0.13, 99th percentile) are the scariest pair on this sheet. The Efficiency Profile’s outer ring will light up on Alabama’s run defense and go dim on Kentucky’s defensive success rate (31.9th percentile). 1 The Mismatch Matrix is going to draw a long bar on Alabama’s defensive front versus Kentucky’s offensive line, and that bar is the game. Kentucky’s 90th-percentile line yards ran through an FCS front; Alabama just held East Carolina to two rushing yards and stuffed 37 percent of rushes. If that holds, Stein’s run-first identity — the one Terrance Green already identified from their Oregon days — dies in the backfield, and Kenny Minchey is throwing on passing downs into a 4-2-5 that lives to take away what you do best. The counter-bar is Kentucky’s finishing (94th-percentile points per opportunity) against an Alabama defense that, when it does break, gives up explosives at an 11.6th-percentile clip. One or two Minchey-to-Darby or Minchey-to-Skinner shots can keep Kentucky in a range the success-rate gap says they should not occupy. Everything else on this board says Alabama’s defense decides how long the afternoon lasts. 1 08 RETURNING PRODUCTION Returning production measures how much of last season’s predicted-points-added walked back through the door, split by passing, receiving and rushing. TEAM TOTAL PPA RETURNED % OF PPA USAGE RETURNED Kentucky 43.8 19.3% 18.0% Alabama 120.2 26.4% 30.1% Neither roster is a continuity project. Kentucky brought back 19.3 percent of last year’s PPA and 18 percent of the usage; Alabama is only at 26.4 percent and 30.1 percent. The Roster Continuity & Talent chart is going to look like two portal teams standing next to each other, because that is what they are. Kentucky’s returning value is concentrated in the receiving room (34.5 percent of receiving PPA) and underwater everywhere else — negative passing PPA returned, negative rushing PPA returned. Alabama returned 41 percent of receiving PPA and almost none of the rushing value (minus-66.9 percent rushing PPA), which is the numerical version of “we replaced the backfield.” 1 For this game, the returning-production split explains why both Week 1 box scores were written by new people. Kenny Minchey, CJ Baxter and a line full of Tennessee/Ohio State/Baylor/Alabama transfers are not “Kentucky football” in the old sense; they are Stein’s imports, and they just posted 89th-percentile offensive PPA. Alabama’s returning receiving core is the one piece of continuity, and it produced negative PPA against East Carolina, which is a problem if the new offensive line is also missing its only returning starter. Low continuity on both sides usually means variance. On a wet road Saturday, variance is the underdog’s friend and the favorite’s tax. 1 Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 9 of 16
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09 TEAM TALENT The 247Sports composite talent score is the recruiting base sitting under the roster — not this year’s production, the raw material. TEAM TALENT COMPOSITE Kentucky 786.65 Alabama 973.53 Alabama’s 973.53 to Kentucky’s 786.65 is a 187-point gap, the kind of spread you see between a program that still loads the truck in recruiting and a program that has to win in the portal. The Roster Continuity & Talent chart will make this look lopsided because it is lopsided. Talent is not a Week 1 box score. It is why Alabama can lose a starting guard, a running back, a receiver and four defensive backs and still put a functional SEC team on the field in Lexington. 1 It also caps Kentucky’s upset math. Stein has been excellent at collecting four-star linemen and a Notre Dame quarterback, and that is how you post a 786 composite and an 89th-percentile offense in the same season. It is not how you out-talent a 973 roster for 60 minutes when the 973 roster’s defense is also a 95th-percentile FPI unit. Talent shows up late, on third-and-four, when the depth chart is the depth chart and not the availability report. If this game is still a one-score game in the fourth quarter, Alabama’s talent number is the reason Kentucky has to be perfect and Alabama only has to be competent. 1 10 TEAM PPA Team PPA is predicted points added per play at the unit level; the week-by-week trend is the only read we have on whether a team is actually improving or just beating the tomato cans. TEAM (WEEK 1) OFF. PPA PASS RUSH DEF. PPA Kentucky vs. YSU 0.56 0.90 0.32 0.08 Alabama vs. ECU 0.29 0.22 0.34 -0.20 One week is not a trend, and the Season Form Trend chart is going to be two dots pretending to be a line. Kentucky’s 0.56 offensive PPA and 0.90 passing PPA against Youngstown State are sparkling; Alabama’s 0.29 overall and 0.22 passing PPA against East Carolina are ordinary, with the value coming on the ground (0.34) and on third down. Defensively the split is inverted: Kentucky allowed 0.08 PPA per play (replacement level), Alabama posted -0.20 (genuinely good). 1 The honest read of the trend is that we do not have one, and anyone anchoring on Kentucky’s 0.56 is going to eat the schedule adjustment. What we do have is a directional tell: Stein’s offense is currently more efficient per play than Alabama’s, and Alabama’s defense is currently in a different league from Kentucky’s. If the Season Form Trend means anything by Week 2, it is that Kentucky’s passing PPA (0.90) is the unit most exposed to a 92nd-percentile defensive success rate, and Alabama’s rushing PPA (0.34) is the unit most exposed to a wet football and a shuffled interior line. One of those two things will be the game’s actual plot. The other will be the footnote. 1 11 PLAYER PPA Player PPA isolates the individuals who actually moved the needle in Week 1, which is what the Top Individual Impact chart ranks. PLAYER TEAM POS TOTAL PPA AVG PPA Kenny Minchey Kentucky QB 21.84 0.84 Keelon Russell Alabama QB 19.74 0.48 CJ Baxter Jr. Kentucky RB 8.05 0.73 Mikkel Skinner Kentucky TE 7.82 1.96 Kenny Darby Kentucky WR 6.33 1.58 Daniel Hill Alabama RB 3.57 0.40 EJ Crowell Alabama RB 3.48 0.50 Ryan Williams Alabama WR -1.95 -0.49 Minchey is the report. Twenty-two points of PPA, 0.84 per play, 1.68 on passing downs — that is a quarterback who won Week 1 with his arm, not a designed-run gimmick. Around him, Stein’s offense ran through a Texas transfer back (Baxter, 8.05) and a tight end (Skinner, 7.82 at 1.96 per play) rather than a classic WR1. Darby (6.33) is the speed piece. On the other sideline, Russell’s 19.74 total PPA is real and badly skewed: 12.19 of it is rushing, 14.30 of it came on third down, and his passing PPA is Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 10 of 16
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7.54 at 0.25 per dropback. Hill and Crowell were efficient enough (3.57 and 3.48). Every listed Alabama receiver — Williams, Rico Scott, Lotzeir Brooks, Derek Meadows — posted negative PPA. 1 That distribution is a problem in the rain and on the road. If Russell has to win this game as a passer, Week 1 says he is not yet that guy, and the people who are supposed to help him subtracted value against East Carolina. If he wins it as a runner and a third-down improviser, Kentucky’s front seven gets a target it can actually hit. Kentucky’s PPA, by contrast, is concentrated in the one player Alabama’s structure is built to bother: a dropback quarterback throwing to TEs and a speed receiver, with Baxter as the closer. Take Minchey away and Kentucky’s Week 1 offense disappears. Take Russell’s legs away and Alabama’s Week 1 offense becomes a 0.25-PPA passing game behind a backup right guard. The Top Individual Impact chart is going to put two quarterbacks on top and then a cliff, and the cliff is the Tide skill group. 1 12 TEAM SEASON STATS These are the raw counting stats from one game, useful when they agree with the advanced numbers and loud when they do not. STAT KENTUCKY ALABAMA Points 45-13 48-10 Total yards 506-305 487-162 Rush yards 205-59 227-2 Pass yards 301-246 260-160 First downs 24-20 28-5 Third downs 3/8 8/15 (0/9 against) TDs (pass/rush) 4 / 2 0 / 5 Turnovers 0-1 1-1 Sacks 2-0 3-1 Possession (sec) 1792-1808 2333-1267 The counting stats and the advanced stats agree on the identity of each team and disagree on the quality. Kentucky threw for 301 yards and four scores on 18-of-27 and ran for 205; that matches 0.90 passing PPA and 90th-percentile line yards. Alabama ran for 227 yards and five rushing touchdowns with zero passing scores; that matches 0.34 rushing PPA and a passing game that was along for the ride. Defensively, Alabama’s 162 yards, two rushing yards, five first downs and 0-for-9 on third down is the box- score version of a 92nd-percentile success rate. Kentucky’s 59 yards rushing allowed is solid; 246 yards passing allowed and 8-of- 15 third downs against is the 31.9th-percentile success rate showing up in public. 1 Where they disagree is scale. Kentucky’s 3-of-8 on third down is a poor conversion rate sitting underneath a 91st-percentile success rate — they were successful on early downs and never needed the third-down chart. Alabama’s 8-of-15 and Russell’s 14.3 third-down PPA say the opposite: the Tide offense lived on third down against ECU, which is a brutal way to live against an SEC defense in the rain. Possession time is the other split worth stealing: Alabama held the ball 38:53 to 21:07, which is how you score 48 with a mediocre PPA. Kentucky will not see that kind of script if Alabama’s defense is even average. The counting stats say Alabama smothers and Kentucky scores in bunches. Saturday’s opponent is not East Carolina or Youngstown State, so trust the shape, not the totals. 1 13 ADJUSTED TEAM METRICS No data was available for that section. 14 KENTUCKY WILDCATS INJURY UPDATES Medical items only, split by source. Live web research: No data was available for live web research on Kentucky injuries. Injury feed: Kentucky’s medical picture from the stored feed is mostly green. OLB Sam Greene is available after recovering from the ACL that ended his 2025 season and is expected to play. 2 13 Starting CB Hasaan Sykes, who sat the Youngstown State opener with what Stein called “fall camp blues,” is expected to play. 2 17 Starting RT Malachi Wood (calf) is probable and Stein said he “really could have played” in Week 1. 2 18 LB Alex Afari is probable and being ramped into a larger role after a handful of snaps in the opener. 2 18 K Jacob Kauwe (soft tissue) is probable. 2 17 The one genuine question is CB Terhyon Nichols, who missed the opener with an undisclosed issue and was left as “we will see” by Stein. 2 19 Stein also said he expected the roster at full strength, a claim the Nichols uncertainty undercuts. 2 6 Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 11 of 16
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That is a home team getting healthier in a hurry, which is the opposite of the visitor’s week. Wood’s return reconstitutes an offensive line Stein has been stacking through the portal; Sykes’ return, and Nichols’ if he goes, gives the secondary two bodies it did not have against Youngstown State. Greene is a seasoned edge for a down that will see a lot of Russell boot and inside zone. None of these designations, including Nichols’ questionable tag, rise to the level of knocking a high-PPA player out of the Top Individual Impact list — Minchey, Baxter and Skinner are not on this board. Kentucky’s injury week is about getting the planned lineup on the field, not about rewriting the depth chart. 2 15 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE INJURY UPDATES Medical items only, split by source. Live web research: Domani Jackson is out against Kentucky with a knee injury; he did not practice all week. 24 Ryan Williams is questionable with a hamstring after leaving Monday’s practice, was limited Tuesday and Wednesday, practiced fully Thursday and is expected to play as a game-time decision. 25 Left tackle Jackson Lloyd is out after Monday foot surgery, with a four-to-six- week window, and Kadyn Proctor is slated to start on the blind side. 26 Safety Malachi Moore (groin) is probable and has practiced fully. 27 Linebacker Jihaad Campbell is doubtful with a shoulder stinger and did not practice Thursday. 28 Center Seth McLaughlin (forearm) and DL Anastasios Sidiropoulous (lower leg) are both probable. 29 Injury feed: The Friday SEC availability report is uglier than a typical Week 2 road list. Starting right guard Michael Carroll is out after a midweek concussion; he is the only returning starter on the offensive line and will not travel. 2 7 RB AK Dear is out for a second straight game (ankle/camp scrimmage). 2 30 WR Noah Rogers is out again. 2 11 The secondary is thinned in bulk: Domani Jackson out (knee), Zyan Gibson out, Jorden Edmonds out, Nick Sherman out, with Jireh Edwards the only questionable after preseason arm surgery. 2 8 24 31 LB Cayden Jones is out. DL Jeremiah Beaman is out for the season with an ACL tear. 2 10 OG William Sanders, who played through an oblique in Week 1, is probable. 2 35 Put the two groups next to each other and Alabama is playing its SEC opener without its starting right guard, without a starting- caliber tackle in one of the two reports, without a backup running back, without a transfer receiver who was supposed to start, and without a cluster of defensive backs. Williams, the one skill player who actually has a name, is a game-time hamstring. Campbell, a difference-making linebacker in one of the reports, is doubtful. This is the first thing the ratings cannot see: a 22.5 FPI team that is not dressing like a 22.5 FPI team on the interior of the line or in the secondary, on the road, in the rain, with a quarterback making his first SEC start. 2 8 16 KEY PLAYER MATCHUPS The defining individual battles, tied back to the PPA and the advanced numbers. CJ Baxter and Jason Patterson against Yhonzae Pierre, Luke Metz, Caleb Woodson and Bray Hubbard is the down that decides whether Stein’s offense has a first act. Baxter, who put up 8.05 PPA in Week 1, named those four specifically off the film and framed it as a physicality test; Stein called Hubbard the captain of that defense. 36 37 Alabama just allowed two rushing yards and a 0.13 line-yards figure. Kentucky just ran for 4.12 line yards and 205 on the ground. One of those Week 1s is a lie, and the Mismatch Matrix is going to bet it is Kentucky’s. Terrance Green, who played for Stein at Oregon, has already said the quiet part: Kentucky loves to run, Stein will sprinkle trick plays, and Alabama has to win pad level and get off blocks. 38 If Pierre and the interior win this, Minchey is in a passing-down game he has not played yet. If Baxter wins it, Alabama’s 92nd-percentile success rate starts leaking. Kenny Minchey against Metz and Woodson in the 4-2-5 is the second battle, and it is the one that matches the PPA. Minchey’s 1.68 passing-down PPA and Skinner’s 1.96 average ran through the middle of the field against Youngstown State. Alabama’s inside linebackers are there to take that away — Woodson as the green-dot communicator, Metz as the new starter praised for the same. 39 Hubbard sitting over the top is why Stein is already talking about finding advantages rather than running his best play. Kenny Darby’s 6.33 PPA and advertised speed are the leverage Kentucky wants against a secondary that is missing Jackson, Gibson, Edmonds and Sherman; the Kernel flagged Darby as the possible game-changer if Alabama’s corner depth is as thin as the availability report. 12 On the other ball, Russell’s first road start against a Kentucky front that should be blitzing safety Jordan Castell is the pressure test. 12 49 Russell’s passing PPA was 0.25. His rushing PPA was 1.11. Castell coming from depth is how you make the 0.25 number follow him to Lexington. The trench under all of it is Kentucky’s rebuilt line — Lance Heard and Olaus Alinen, the two names Kane Wommack volunteered — against a Tide front that just stuffed the run at a 99th-percentile line-yards clip, with Mal Waldrep or Ethan Fields in for Carroll on the other side of the ball. 39 38 Alinen transferred from this building; he has seen Wommack’s pictures. Alabama’s inside-zone scheme now runs at Kentucky’s defensive front with a backup at right guard and, in one report, a true freshman at left tackle. 40 26 That is the one matchup where the ratings and the availability report disagree, and it is the one Kentucky has to win to keep Minchey on standard downs. Lose it, and the Mismatch Matrix’s longest bar — Alabama’s defensive front versus this offense — becomes the final score. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 12 of 16
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17 KENTUCKY WILDCATS ROSTER UPDATES Non-injury roster news only, portal first. Verified transfer portal: Kentucky rebuilt the roster in January. Incoming four-stars: OT Lance Heard (Tennessee, 0.94), IOL Coleton Price (Baylor, 0.94), IOL Tegra Tshabola (Ohio State, 0.93), QB Kenny Minchey (Notre Dame, 0.92), LB Elijah Barnes (Texas, 0.90). The three-star class that actually touches this game includes RB CJ Baxter (Texas, 0.89), WR Nic Anderson (LSU, 0.88), OT Olaus Alinen (Alabama, 0.86), RB Jovantae Barnes (Oklahoma, 0.86), CB Hasaan Sykes (Western Carolina, 0.86), WR Brock Coffman (Louisville, 0.85) and a pile of defensive backs from Florida and Missouri. Outgoing: RB Dante Dowdell (4-star) to Georgia, QB Cutter Boley to Arizona State, OT Darrin Strey to LSU, and a long list of three-stars that includes CB DJ Waller Jr. to Louisville. 1 Researched news: No data was available for non-injury researched roster news on Kentucky. The portal is the roster. Minchey is not a caretaker; he is a 0.92 Notre Dame transfer who just produced 21.8 PPA. Baxter is the featured back. Heard, Price, Tshabola and Alinen are why the line-yards number came in at the 90th percentile, and Alinen walking across from Alabama is the one transfer with schematic blood on his hands. Stein did not keep last year’s Kentucky. He replaced it, and the only outgoing name that still stings on a depth chart is Dowdell. For Saturday, the portal means Kentucky’s “inexperience” is not inexperience in the sport — it is inexperience together, which is a different and more solvable problem than playing Cutter Boley. 18 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE ROSTER UPDATES Non-injury roster news only, portal first. Verified transfer portal: Alabama restocked the line of scrimmage and the defense. Incoming four-stars: DL Devan Thompkins (USC, 0.94), WR Noah Rogers (NC State, 0.93), DL Terrance Green (Oregon, 0.93), IOL Nick Brooks (Texas, 0.92), OT Ty Haywood (Michigan, 0.90). Useful three-stars: EDGE Desmond Umeozulu (South Carolina), OT Jayvin James (Mississippi State), IOL Ethan Fields (Ole Miss), LB Caleb Woodson (Virginia Tech), RB Khalifa Keith (App State). Outgoing four-stars came in a wave — WR Isaiah Horton to Texas A&M, DL James Smith and EDGE Qua Russaw to Ohio State, EDGE Noah Carter to Georgia Tech, DL Keon Keeley to Notre Dame, OT Wilkin Formby to Texas A&M, EDGE Jordan Renaud to Ole Miss — plus OT Olaus Alinen to Kentucky. 1 Researched news: Saturday is Keelon Russell’s first road start and first SEC start after 256 passing yards, 86 rushing yards and a touchdown in the East Carolina debut. 49 Ethan Fields is listed as the second-string right guard after seven snaps in the opener, which is no longer a trivia note with Carroll out. 49 Will Sanders and Mal Waldrep, who fought for left guard all camp, are the interior combination Alabama will actually use, with one of them sliding to the right side. 30 CBS noted Alabama rolled out five new offensive line starters in Week 1 and is taking that revamped run game — Daniel Hill with two scores, freshman EJ Crowell with one — into the SEC opener. 47 The portal explains the talent composite and the injury report at the same time. Alabama can lose Carroll because Fields, Waldrep, Brooks and Haywood exist; it can lose Rogers (who is also hurt) because the recruiting base is 973. It cannot lose the only returning starting lineman, start a sophomore quarterback on the road, and pretend the offensive line is a solved offseason concern. Russell’s first SEC snap coming behind that particular interior, against a Kentucky front that just added portal linemen of its own, is the roster story that actually kicks off. Woodson, the Virginia Tech linebacker, is the other portal name that shows up in the matchup tape. 39 19 KENTUCKY WILDCATS PRACTICE AND SCRIMMAGE UPDATES Practice participation, availability and how Stein actually spent game week. The Friday availability report is the document that matters: Jovantae Barnes, Malachi Wood, Terhyon Nichols and Hasaan Sykes are all listed as returning, which is Stein converting a rest-and-ramp Week 1 into a full projected lineup. Four Wildcats are out — DB Andre Clark Jr., OL Max Anderson, OL Aba Selm and Jay Clark — none of whom sit on the Player PPA leaderboard. 8 Stein said after the opener he expected the team at full strength and has spent the week “ramping up” Afari from a cameo to a full-game role; Barnes is “getting back to full strength” and Stein wants him to get an opportunity because of the veteran explosive element. 46 5 The Kernel’s preview treats Wood’s return as the last piece of “one of the best offensive lines in the country” and Barnes as the extra back who lets Minchey check down when Alabama stretches the field. 12 Stein’s language for the week was deliberately cold. He told Kentucky Today that Youngstown State was the biggest game because it was first, and now they “press reset” — do the job, don’t make it super emotional, get better each day. 52 The UK Athletics preview is the same speech in house copy: one-play focus, play to the standard, “it’s about us.” 43 That is a coach who does not want Kroger Field to become a trap game in his own building. Combined with the availability report, it means Kentucky practiced this week as the team it actually intends to be, not the reserve rotation that knocked over Youngstown State. Full participation, extra back, starting tackle, both corners, and a linebacker being built up rather than wrapped in bubble wrap — that is as close to a clean practice week as a 1-0 SEC host gets. Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 13 of 16
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20 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE PRACTICE AND SCRIMMAGE UPDATES Practice participation, what the noise work was for, and who got hurt doing it. DeBoer and Ryan Grubb spent the week manufacturing chaos. DeBoer said crowd noise at Kroger Field is a communication problem that has to reach the outside receivers, not just the interior; Grubb said they made practice loud and disturbing on purpose so that the game “should almost feel easier than what you did at practice.” 51 That is the correct thing to say when your quarterback has never started on the road in this league. It is also an admission. The starting right guard, Michael Carroll, suffered a concussion during this week’s practice and was downgraded from doubtful to out on Friday, so the noise work is now being done with Will Sanders, Mal Waldrep or Ethan Fields in his chair. 8 30 39 The Friday report from that same week of practice listed eight players out — Carroll, AK Dear, Noah Rogers, Jorden Edmonds, Zyan Gibson, Cayden Jones, Nick Sherman, Jeremiah Beaman — and Jireh Edwards as the lone questionable. 8 Gibson was added Thursday; Dear had been upgraded to questionable earlier in the week before being knocked back to out. 31 30 There is no useful scrimmage reporting inside the seven-day window, so the practice story is the availability report plus the noise. Alabama prepared for a hostile, wet building by making practice hostile, then lost the one lineman who had started a college game at his position last year in the process. That is not a catastrophe for a 973-talent roster. It is exactly the kind of week that turns a 10- point road favorite into a 7-point road favorite. 21 KENTUCKY WILDCATS VS ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE MEDIA MATCHUP ANALYSIS No data was available for that section. 22 GAME CONDITIONS AND BETTING CONTEXT Forecast, venue and how the market is pricing a wet SEC opener at Kroger Field, as the Game Conditions chart lays out. Kroger Field is open-air artificial turf, capacity 61,000, elevation 307 meters — low enough that the air does nothing, loud enough that DeBoer spent the week practicing in manufactured chaos, and uncovered so the forecast actually counts. The forecast is 75.6 degrees, 89 percent humidity, wind 7.8 mph from 206 degrees (SSW), and rain with 0.031 inches of precipitation. That is not a monsoon. It is a wet ball, a wet turf that will still drain, and almost no wind to kill the deep ball on its own. Rain still punishes timing routes and ball security, which is bad news for a Minchey-led passing PPA of 0.90 and for a Russell passing PPA of 0.25 that already needed his legs to post a decent number. It is good news for whichever offensive line can run inside zone without punching itself, and it is a thumb on the scale for the under. 1 Both teams are 1-0 against the spread, each covering by 10 points in Week 1. Bovada and DraftKings have Alabama -10 (market margin of -10 toward the home team) with a total of 48.25. The market’s pregame home win probability is 24.5 percent; the statistical baseline, a 50/50 blend of the ratings consensus and that market line, sits at Alabama by 10.69 with a 21.4 percent home win probability and a projected total of 53.1. The market is already lower than the model on points, which is the market smelling the rain and the Alabama defense. Light rain on turf with a 7.8-mph wind does not cancel explosives by itself, but it does make Minchey’s passing-down number harder to cash and it does make Russell’s first road communication test harder to ace. Take the conditions as a 2-to-3-point drag on the total and a small tax on both passing games, not as a reason to throw out the talent gap. 23 FINAL PREDICTION Alabama wins this game. The statistical baseline — a blend of the ratings consensus (Alabama by 11.38) and the market (Alabama by 10) — is Alabama by 10.69, which translates to Kentucky 21, Alabama 32 on a 53.1 total. That is the anchor. The ratings cannot see Michael Carroll ruled out after a practice concussion, a cluster of Tide defensive backs sitting, Keelon Russell’s first road SEC start, Kentucky getting Wood, Barnes, Sykes and Nichols back onto the field, or rain at an open-air Kroger Field. Those are not 10-point events. They are a three-point trim toward the home team and a real cut to the total: Carroll is the only returning starting lineman on a five-new-starter line, Russell’s passing PPA was 0.25, and 89 percent humidity with rain is a wet-ball tax on the passing downs Kentucky needs to keep up. I am moving the margin from Alabama by 10.69 to Alabama by 7 and killing the 53-point total. Kentucky 20, Alabama 27. The market is Alabama -10 at 48.25. I have the Tide by 7, so the play is Kentucky +10; I have 47 combined, so the play is under 48.25. That is not a homer lean. It is the baseline minus a backup right guard, a first-time road quarterback and weather the books have only half-priced. The case is three things. First, Alabama’s defense is the best unit on the field — 12.6 SP+, 95.5 FPI defensive efficiency, 92nd- percentile success rate, 99th-percentile line yards — and Kentucky’s 90th-percentile line yards were posted against Youngstown State. Baxter and Patterson are not going to replicate 4.12 line yards against Pierre, Metz, Woodson and Green. Second, the Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 14 of 16
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offense Alabama is bringing to cash that defensive edge is a rushing PPA of 0.34 attached to a negative-PPA receiving corps, a backup at right guard and a quarterback whose Week 1 value was 12.2 rushing PPA and 14.3 on third down. In the rain, on the road, that offense scores in the mid-20s, not the low 30s. Third, Kentucky’s actual argument is real and bounded: Minchey (21.8 PPA), a rebuilt line that Wommack has already named, extra backs and corners returning, and a building Stein has asked to be loud. That is how you cover. It is not how you beat a 973-talent roster whose defense still has Hubbard, Metz and a 4-2-5 that takes away what you do best. Alabama 27, Kentucky 20. THE VERDICT · The projected final score, win probability, the model's spread set against the market and the pick that comparison implies — the report's bottom line in one card. SOURCES 1. College Football Data API (CollegeFootballData) https://collegefootballdata.com 2. College football injury feed (Injury feed) https://www.rotowire.com/cfootball/news.php 3. Kentucky vs. Alabama Injury Report: Jovantae Barnes is good to go | A Sea Of Blue https://www.aseaofblue.com/180099/kentucky-vs-alabama-injury-report-jovantae- barnes 4. SEC availability report: Kentucky mostly healthy, Alabama - SECFB https://secfb.com/sec-availability-report-kentucky-alabama/ 5. The injury report for Kentucky vs. Alabama is here (Sports Illustrated – Kentucky) https://www.si.com/college/kentucky/football/the-injury-report-for-kentucky-vs- alabama-is-here 6. Will Stein Confirms Entire Roster Will Be Healthy For Alabama Game - KY Insider (KY Insider) https://kyinsider.com/kentucky-football-roster-healthy-will-stein-090826/ 7. Kentucky vs. Alabama Injury Report: Starting OL Michael Carroll ruled out | A Sea Of Blue (A Sea Of Blue) https://www.aseaofblue.com/kentucky-wildcats-football/180253/alabama-injury-report- michael-carroll-ruled-out 8. Friday Night Availability Report for No. 12 Alabama at Kentucky (Tide1009) https://tide1009.com/friday-availability-report-alabama-kentucky-2026/ 9. Alabama injury update: Michael Carroll doubtful for Kentucky game - al.com https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2026/09/key-alabama-starter-doubtful-for- kentucky-game.html 10. Alabama football injury report vs. Kentucky Wildcats in Week 2 (Roll Tide Wire) https://rolltidewire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/crimson- tide/football/2026/09/10/alabama-football-kentucky-wildcats-injury-report-week- 2/91684343007/ 11. Alabama Starting Offensive Lineman Included on Kentucky Availability Report (Sports Illustrated) https://www.si.com/college/alabama/football/alabama-starting-offensive-lineman- 31. Zyan Gibson: Alabama defensive back added to availability report, injury report for Kentucky game - al.com (al.com) https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2026/09/alabama-adds-defensive-back-to- availability-report-as-out-for-kentucky-game.html 32. Alabama football: Michael Carroll listed as “doubtful” at Kentucky | Roll 'Bama Roll https://www.rollbamaroll.com/alabama-crimson-tide-football/83802/alabama- football-michael-carroll-listed-as-doubtful-at-kentucky 33. DL Jeremiah Beaman not in uniform for ECU game (SI.com) https://www.si.com/college/alabama/football/alabama-football-injury-updates- against-east-carolina 34. RB AK Dear 'closest' to returning, per Kalen DeBoer (al.com) https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2026/09/these-2-injured-alabama-players- are-closest-to-returning-per-kalen-deboer.html 35. OG William Sanders played through oblique injury, expected for Kentucky (Tide1009) https://tide1009.com/william-sanders-oblique-injury-alabama-2026/ 36. Kentucky RB CJ Baxter names Alabama defenders who stand out on film (TD Alabama Magazine) https://tdalabamamag.com/2026/09/11/kentucky-rb-names-the-alabama- defensive-players-who-stand-out-on-film/ 37. Kentucky OC Will Stein says Alabama's Bray Hubbard is the captain of that defense (SI.com Kentucky) https://www.si.com/college/kentucky/football/will-stein-talks-about-what- kentucky-will-face-with-alabama-on-saturday 38. Alabama DL Terrance Green knows Will Stein's offense from Oregon, says Kentucky loves to run (SI.com Alabama) https://www.si.com/college/alabama/football/three-storylines-i-m-watching-most- in-alabama-s-week-2-matchup-against-kentucky 39. Alabama LBs Caleb Woodson and Luke Metz key vs Kentucky QB Kenny Minchey (SI.com Alabama) https://www.si.com/college/alabama/football/three-matchups-that-will-decide- Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 15 of 16
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included-on-kentucky-availability-report 12. PREVIEW: Kentucky prepares to suit up against No. 12 Alabama – Kentucky Kernel (Kentucky Kernel) https://kykernel.com/127739/sports/football/preview-kentucky-prepares-to-suit-up- against-no-12-alabama/ 13. OLB Sam Greene Available After ACL Recovery (A Sea Of Blue) https://www.aseaofblue.com/kentucky-wildcats-football/179402/sam-greene-injury- jovantae-barnes-youngstown-state 14. Darius Moore returns from second ACL surgery, starts season opener (Abilene Christian Athletics) https://acusports.com/news/2026/9/3/football-no-20-wildcats-face-texas-tech-on- national-tv-saturday-night 15. CB DJ Waller Jr. Doubtful vs Ole Miss, Status for Alabama Unknown (On3) https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/kentucky-football-ole-miss-sec- avilability-report-update/ 16. QB Zach Calzada Shoulder Injury Clouds Status vs Alabama (Lexington Herald Leader) https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk- football/article312002048.html 17. CB Hasaan Sykes Expected to Play vs Alabama (SI.com - Kentucky Sports) https://www.si.com/college/kentucky/football/will-stein-provided-some-injury-updates- after-kentucky-s-season-opener 18. OT Malachi Wood Set to Return vs Alabama (Your Sports Edge) https://www.yoursportsedge.com/2026/09/07/cats-should-have-more-players- available-against-alabama/vaughts-views/larryvaught/ 19. CB Terhyon Nichols Status Uncertain for Alabama (A Sea Of Blue) https://www.aseaofblue.com/kentucky-wildcats-football/180013/alabama-injuries- terhyon-nichols-hasaan-sykes 20. K.D. Hutchinson out of opener due to persistent knee issue, week-to-week (Bowling Green Daily News) https://bgdailynews.com/2026/09/09/tops-out-to-regroup-fast-after-opener/ 21. Western Kentucky WR K.D. Hutchinson Questionable for Georgia game with knee injury (RotoWire) https://www.rotowire.com/cfootball/article/college-football-injury-report-most-injured- teams-133624 22. WKU injury report lists Hutchinson and Brock Glenn as questionable vs. Georgia (Big Al) https://www.bigal.com/articles/western-kentucky-hilltoppers-vs-georgia-bulldogs- prediction-picks-and-game-preview-09-12-2026 23. No official WKU injury report issued for Georgia contest (NFL Pickwatch) https://nflpickwatch.com/ncaaf/game/4545-western-kentucky-at-georgia-2026-09-12 24. Domani Jackson ruled OUT vs Kentucky with knee injury (Al.com) https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2026/09/alabama-vs-kentucky-injury-report- domani-jackson-out.html 25. Ryan Williams questionable with hamstring, expected to play (TideSports.com) https://www.tidesports.com/alabama-injury-report-ryan-williams-hamstring/ 26. Jackson Lloyd out with foot surgery, Proctor to start (BamaOnLine (Rivals)) https://alabama.rivals.com/news/alabama-tackle-jackson-lloyd-undergoes-foot-surgery 27. Malachi Moore probable with groin, cleared to play (Crimson Tide Football official site) https://rolltide.com/news/2026/9/11/injury-report-alabama-vs-kentucky.aspx 28. Jihaad Campbell doubtful with shoulder stinger (247Sports) https://247sports.com/college/alabama/article/alabama-football-jihaad-campbell- injury-status-kentucky/ 29. McLaughlin and Sidiropoulous probable for Kentucky (Sports Illustrated Alabama) https://www.si.com/college/alabama/alabama-injury-report-vs-kentucky-2026 30. Alabama football injury news: Michael Carroll out for Kentucky game, AK Dear also - al.com (al.com) https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2026/09/alabama-loses-crucial-offensive-line- starter-for-kentucky-game.html alabama-week-2-game-against-kentucky 40. Alabama's inside-zone run scheme vs Kentucky's big defensive front is a key battle (Blitz Sports Media) https://blitzsportsmedia.com/week-2-kentucky-vs-alabama-preview/ 41. Alabama football: Kentucky preview, questions, Will Stein offense, Keelon Russell, Michael Carroll status - al.com https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2026/09/3-questions-for-alabama-to-answer- in-kentucky-game.html 42. Three things to know about the #12 Alabama Crimson Tide https://www.si.com/college/kentucky/football/three-things-to-know-about-the-12- alabama-crimson-tide 43. Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Alabama – UK Athletics (UK Athletics) https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/11/big-blue-preview-kentucky-vs-alabama- 4/ 44. Alabama football at Kentucky previews and predictions | Roll 'Bama Roll https://www.rollbamaroll.com/jumbo-package/83851/alabama-football-at- kentucky-previews-and-predictions 45. Will Stein expects Jovantae Barnes to return against Alabama - SECFB https://secfb.com/jovantae-barnes-expected-vs-alabama/ 46. Will Stein Wants Kroger Field Louder Than Ever Against Alabama - KY Insider (KY Insider) https://kyinsider.com/kentucky-football-will-stein-kroger-field-alabama-091026/ 47. Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Kentucky Wildcats Live Score and Stats - September 12, 2026 Gametracker - CBS Sports (CBS Sports) https://www.cbssports.com/college- football/gametracker/preview/NCAAF_20260912_BAMA@UK/ 48. Alabama vs Kentucky Prediction: Odds, expert picks, team and player news, betting trends, and stats - NBC Sports https://www.nbcsports.com/betting/college-football/news/alabama-vs-kentucky- prediction-odds-expert-picks-team-and-player-news-betting-trends-and-stats 49. Keelon Russell to make first road start and first SEC start at Kentucky (ESPN) https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49886511/alabama-michael- carroll-doubtful-vs-kentucky 50. Alabama has a chance in Week 2 at Kentucky to put its biggest offseason concern to bed https://bamahammer.com/alabama-has-a-chance-in-week-2-at-kentucky-to-put- its-biggest-offseason-concern-to-bed 51. Alabama hopes for success on the road at Kentucky | Alabama Public Radio (Alabama Public Radio (APR)) https://www.apr.org/news/2026-09-12/alabama-hopes-for-success-on-the-road- at-kentucky 52. Stein switches to 'press reset' language as game week for Alabama arrives (Kentucky Today) https://www.kentuckytoday.com/sports/cats-face-big-task-against-no-12- alabama-in-sec-opener/article_744e54d5-ab25-4877-bd1c-f4a64d523e9f.html 53. Cats face big task against No. 12 Alabama in SEC opener | Sports | kentuckytoday.com https://www.kentuckytoday.com/sports/cats-face-big-task-against-no-12- alabama-in-sec-opener/article_744b54d5-ab25-4878-bd1c-f4a64d523e9f.html 54. Will Stein Discusses Matchup with No. 12 Alabama on Saturday - Cats Coverage https://catscoverage.com/2026/09/10/will-stein-discusses-matchup-with-no-12- alabama-on-saturday/ 55. Key Wildcats cleared as Alabama reports notable absences ahead of Kroger Field showdown — WE NEWS https://we-news.com/us/key-wildcats-cleared-as-alabama-reports-notable- absences-ahead-of-kroger-field-showdown 56. Alabama football’s starting guard ruled out for Kentucky game https://tdalabamamag.com/2026/09/11/alabama-footballs-starting-guard-ruled- out/ 57. Alabama football: QB, RB notes from first fall scrimmage | Roll 'Bama Roll https://www.rollbamaroll.com/alabama-crimson-tide-football/83124/alabama- football-qb-rb-notes-from-first-fall-scrimmage 58. The Position Groups That Impressed During Alabama's First Fall Scrimmage https://www.si.com/college/alabama/football/the-position-groups-that-impressed- during-alabama-first-fall-scrimmage 59. David Pollack Talks Upset Potential, Picks Winner of Alabama-Kentucky in Week 2 https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/news/david-pollack-talks-upset- potential-picks-winner-of-alabama-kentucky-in-week-2 60. Kentucky-Alabama prediction, odds for 2026 SEC football Week 2 game https://www.courier- journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2026/09/10/kentucky-alabama- football-prediction-picks-odds-sec-week-2-schedule/91542077007/ Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide · 2026 · Matchup Report Page 16 of 16
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