You've probably seen that former Auburn great Charles Barkley has predicted his Tigers will blow out your Wildcats but he's not the only person sounding off about Saturday's game.

Cats Illustrated rounds up the takes, analysis, and predictions leading up to Saturday's noon kickoff between Kentucky and Auburn.

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports believes that Auburn will cover the 7.5-point spread . While he's quick to point out he's not always been the biggest fan of Bo Nix, he calls for the Tigers to beat the 'Cats 27-16.

"Well, it's pretty simple," Fornelli writes. "It's the first game for both teams, and having continuity at quarterback early in the season is significant considering how the offseason has gone down. Kentucky doesn't have that convenience in 2020. Also, Auburn just tends to do well as a favorite! The Tigers are 10-3 in their last 13 games when favored, and they're 9-3 in their last 12 at home. Kentucky, meanwhile, is only 20-24 ATS in SEC play as an underdog under Mark Stoops."

Pete Fiutak of College Football News previews the game and predicts a 23-17 Auburn victory, but gives the 'Cats plenty of respect.

"Kentucky is going to be a problem. Auburn will pull this off with Nix coming through on two fourth quarter scoring drives, but it’s going to take a whole lot of sweating to get there with the Wildcats showing up strong on both sides of the ball. Expect a low-scoring grind, but it’ll be entertaining," Fiutak writes.

Josh Vitale of the Montgomery Advisor believes Auburn will win by a more comfortable 27-14 margin, writing, "The fact that both teams are coming off limited preparation due to COVID-19 and Jordan-Hare Stadium will be at only 20% capacity could keep this game close at the start. In the end, though, Auburn's talent on both sides of the ball will prove too much."

Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports calls for a 27-24 Auburn win but says it might be the most interesting game on the entire Week 4 schedule.

His rationale?

"The Wildcats’ offensive line and ground game should find some success against the Tigers’ revamped front. But this contest could come down to whichever quarterback can make just enough plays through the air in a close game," Lassan wrote.

Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports is one of the many national writers picking the Tigers to win but calling for Kentucky to cover.

"I'll take Kentucky and grab those points," Sallee writes. "No, it's not because I think that the Wildcats will spring the upset. This just feels like an old-school, defense-driven slug fest in which neither team will find much of a flow offensively. Nix should be more of an impact player in the running game, and Morris is supposedly adding more over-the-middle passing elements to an offense that has been lacking in that department. The element of the unknown will jump up and bite Kentucky enough to give Auburn the win ... but not the cover."

One of the writers predicting a Kentucky win is Chris Kubala of Winners and Whiners.

"This one is going to be tough to figure out as Auburn is missing a lot of key contributors from a season ago. With the way things have been with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tigers haven’t had a lot of opportunities to really jell together and figure out how things will work going forward. Meanwhile, Kentucky has a lot of returning firepower from last season’s team and Wilson, if he can stay healthy, gives the Wildcats a capable quarterback that can help take pressure off the run game. Playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium can be a problem when there is a crowd, but that’s not really a factor here. Kentucky’s returning starters help them pull off an upset here," Kubala writes.

Of the 14 writers polled from the USA Today family of papers, six are picking the 'Cats.

But perhaps not surprisingly, none of the AL.com sports contributors polled believe Kentucky will win the game.

ESPN's FPI (Football Power Index) gives Auburn roughly an 85-percent chance of winning the game.

In the AP game preview there's an implicit tip of the hat to the idea that both Kentucky and Auburn have a chance to make some noise in the East and West respectively.