Kentucky among 21 teams on bookmaker’s list of national title contenders. See UK’s odds.

Kentucky’s odds for winning the national championship have improved slightly since the beginning of the season, but, more importantly, the Cats are still on the board more than halfway through the season while other long shots have disappeared.

UK is listed as the longest shot at odds of 500-1 on a list of 21 schools the Bovada online sports book had on its website Monday.

At the beginning of the year, when you could bet on almost any FBS team, Kentucky’s odds were 650-1, which was far better than the longest shots it was taking for schools like Vanderbilt (1000-1).

While a long shot, it might not be as farfetched now that UK has only one loss and controls its own destiny as far as getting to the SEC Championship Game. Before the season, Bovada was taking a number of futures bets that included Kentucky winning the SEC East at 100-1. Those wagers are no longer listed on the website.

But doubts about Kentucky’s chances can still be measured by some teams that seem like even longer shots. Auburn, which has plummeted out of the rankings after three losses, still has better odds than UK to win the national title at 275-1 as does Mississippi State (275-1), a team Kentucky beat.

Odds are much shorter for Alabama (1-2), Clemson (5-1) and Notre Dame (13-2) to win the national title. And no team “controls its own destiny” quite like the Crimson Tide, the defending champions.

This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 4:34 PM.