Kentucky is elated after last night’s 41-6 win over Ohio, but the joy won’t last long. Next weekend’s opponent is a tough one and it will be the Wildcats’ first road game of the season.

The folks at FanDuel already have odds for Kentucky’s showdown in Oxford with No. 5 Ole Miss, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28 at 12:00 p.m. EST (ABC or ESPN). The Wildcats started as big underdogs, The Rebels are currently the favorites in the SEC duel with a 16.5 point lead. The upper/lower limit was set at 51.5.

Kentucky has a league record of 0-2 so far this season, losing embarrassingly to South Carolina in Week 2 before rebounding and nearly defeating then-No. 1 Georgia seven days later. Ole Miss has yet to play an SEC opponent and has won its first four games by a combined score of 220-24.

Kentucky undoubtedly had a tougher schedule than Ole Miss through a third of the 2024 schedule. The biggest “challenge” for Lane Kiffin’s team came in Week 3, a 40-6 win over a 1-2 Wake Forest team. The Rebels have also beaten Furman, Middle Tennessee State and Georgia Southern. Kentucky will be Ole Miss’ most talented opponent yet.

However, it will certainly not be easy for Kentucky to pull off an upset. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Ole Miss a 90.5 percent chance of winning. According to ESPN, the Rebels also have the fifth-best chance of making the College Football Playoffs at 76 percent. Quarterback Jaxson Dart has already thrown over 1,500 passing yards and 12 touchdowns in just four games.

But if Kentucky wants to make its first big statement of the season, this is the opportunity to do so. The Wildcats climbed one spot to No. 38 on ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) after the win over Ohio. UK now has a 40.2 percent chance of reaching the six-win mark and is clinging to a 0.2 percent chance of making the CFP.