Kentucky vs. Santa Clara Dunkel Predictions & Vegas Odds - First Round

The No. 7 seed Kentucky Wildcats (21-13) are favored (-2.5) to beat the No. 10 seed Santa Clara Broncos (26-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Enterprise Center. The contest starts at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS. Here are some insights into this Midwest Region contest for those filling out their brackets. The matchup has an over/under set at 157 points.

In its most recent game on Friday, Kentucky suffered a 71-63 loss to Florida. In the losing effort, Denzel Aberdeen paced Kentucky with 17 points. Santa Clara is coming off of a 79-68 loss to Gonzaga in its most recent game on Tuesday. Christian Hammond scored 24 points in Santa Clara's loss, leading the team.

Kentucky vs. Santa Clara Odds and Game Time

• When: Friday, March 20, 2026 at 12:15 p.m. ET
• Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri
• Spread favorite: Kentucky -2.5
• Moneyline favorite: Kentucky -156
• Moneyline underdog: Santa Clara +126
• Over/Under: 157 points

How to watch Kentucky vs. Santa Clara

• TV Channel: CBS
• Check out the rest of our Dunkel Index NCAA Basketball Picks!

Betting the Over/Under: Kentucky vs. Santa Clara

• Kentucky and its opponents have hit the over on this game's total (157 points) 17 times this season.
• There have been 18 Santa Clara games that ended with a combined score over 157 points this season.
• The over/under for the game of 157 is 6.7 points fewer than the combined points per game averages for the Wildcats (80.8) and Broncos (82.9).
• These two teams surrender a combined 146.2 points per game, 10.8 points less than this contest's over/under.
• This season the average over/under for Kentucky's games is 154.6 points, 2.4 fewer than the over/under of 157 set for this contest.
• Santa Clara's games have an average over/under of 155.3 points this season, 1.7 points lower than the over/under for this matchup.

Betting the Spread: Kentucky vs. Santa Clara

• Kentucky is 17-17-0 against the spread this year.
• The Wildcats have an against the spread record of 9-11 in their 20 games as a favorite of 2.5 points or more so far this season.
• Santa Clara is 18-15-0 against the spread this year.
• The Broncos have been underdogs by 2.5 points or more six times this season and are 3-3 ATS in those contests.
• At home this year, Kentucky is 14-4 overall and 9-9 against the spread.
• At home, Kentucky is 7-8 ATS as a 2.5-point favorite or more.
• Santa Clara is 8-3 overall, and 6-5 against the spread, in away games.
• This year, as 2.5-point underdogs or more on the road, Santa Clara is 4-3 ATS.

Betting the Moneyline: Kentucky vs. Santa Clara

• Kentucky has entered the game as moneyline favorites 22 times this season and won 18, or 81.8%, of those games.
• The Wildcats have a record of 15-4 in games where sportsbooks favor them by at least -156 on the moneyline.
• Kentucky has a 60.9% chance to win this game based on the implied probability of the moneyline.
• Santa Clara has been chosen as moneyline underdogs in seven games this year and has walked away with the win two times (28.6%) in those games.
• The Broncos have a mark of 2-4 in contests where sportsbooks give them odds of +126 or worse on the moneyline.
• Santa Clara has an implied victory probability of 44.2% according to the moneyline set by sportsbooks for this matchup.