The NC State Wolfpack take on the Kentucky Wildcats in Omaha, Nebraska. Our College World Series odds package has our NC State Kentucky prediction and pick. Find out how to watch NC State Kentucky.

As these teams gather in Omaha for the 2024 College World Series, it’s a very special moment for both schools. North Carolina State athletics has had an amazing 2024. Both of the school’s basketball teams, men and women, reached the Final Four. Now the baseball team has reached the College World Series just a few months later. So many sports are thriving at the same time for N.C. State, making this a golden year for the school’s full collection of athletic programs.

For Kentucky, this is history. This is the first time the Wildcats have reached the College World Series. Kentucky, a basketball school with the second-highest number of NCAA men’s basketball national championships (behind only UCLA), now gets its big moment on the big stage in college baseball. It’s a very exciting time for Big Blue, which has joined the big boys in this ACC-SEC College World Series.

N.C. State is the one ACC team in this half of the bracket. If the Wolfpack can outduel Kentucky and then Florida and Texas A&M in the coming days, there’s a great chance the CWS Championship Series could be an all-ACC affair. In the other half of the eight-team bracket, three ACC schools — North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida State — reside. In a real sense, no ACC team is carrying the banner for the conference more centrally than State. It’s a real opportunity for the ACC to make a statement against the SEC in this Southern-fried College World Series.

Here are the NC State-Kentucky College World Series odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College World Series Odds: NC State-Kentucky Odds

NC State: +1.5 (no price listed)

Kentucky: -1.5 (no price listed)

Money Line

NC State: +120

Kentucky: -154

How To Watch NC State vs Kentucky

TV: ESPN

Stream: ESPN+

Time: 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT

*Watch NC State-Kentucky LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why NC State Could Cover The Spread

The Wolfpack handled one SEC team — the Georgia Bulldogs — on the road in the super regionals, winning Game 3 in Athens to knock off the Bulldogs. NC State will have no fear of an SEC team, and that should be just the thing to give the Pack confidence they can do the job here in Omaha.

Why Kentucky Could Cover The Spread

The Wildcats beat Oregon State in the super regionals with a lot of clutch pitching. Crucially, Kentucky won its super regional in two games, whereas North Carolina State needed three games to handle Georgia. State’s pitching rotation was stretched thinner than Kentucky’s rotation was in the supers. That should give Kentucky a real edge if this game becomes a battle of the bullpens in the final few innings of regulation, which it probably will.

Final NC State-Kentucky Prediction & Pick

NC State beat an SEC team away from home in the super regionals, prevailing in a three-game series. That display of toughness and resilience against an SEC foe gives North Carolina State every reason to believe it can knock off Kentucky. Picking North Carolina State on the run line seems like a solid play. The NC State money line offers plus money. Take the Wolfpack.

Final NC State-Kentucky Prediction & Pick: NC State +1.5