No. 17 North Carolina vs. No. 18 Kentucky odds, prediction: 2025 men's college basketball picks from proven model

A pair of ranked teams clash when the No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels battle the No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats in a key non-conference matchup on Tuesday night as part of the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge. UNC is coming off a 74-58 loss to Michigan State on Thanksgiving Day, while Kentucky defeated Tennessee Tech 104-54 on Wednesday. The Tar Heels (6-1), who tied for fourth with Wake Forest and SMU in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 13-7, were 23-14 overall a year ago. The Wildcats (5-2), who tied for sixth with Ole Miss and Missouri at 10-8, were 24-12 overall in 2024-25.

Tip-off from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., is set for 9:30 p.m. ET. Kentucky leads the all-time series 25-18, including wins in each of the last two meetings. Kentucky is a 6.5-point favorite in the latest North Carolina vs. Kentucky odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 163.5.

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Before making any North Carolina vs. Kentucky picks, check out the college basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times and has returned over $2,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks over the past three-plus seasons. Anyone following could have seen HUGE returns!

The model has simulated North Carolina vs. Kentucky 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Under, and it also says one side of the spread is the better value!

So who wins North Carolina vs. Kentucky, and which side of the spread is the better value? Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has simulated this matchup 10,000 times!

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