Kentucky is paying how much to beat Murray State? Cost of Week 12 buy game

The Kentucky Wildcats (3-6) are dwelling in the basement of the SEC, losing their last four games in a seemingly season-ending skid. But in Week 12, they'll get a much needed reprieve on their schedule.

FCS Murray State (1-9) will travel to Lexington on Saturday to face Kentucky in what should be blowout for the Wildcats. However, the Racers will be well compensated for their troubles.

Kentucky is paying $600,000 to their in-state neighbors for making the roughly four-hour trip and likely getting their butts whooped.

This will be just the third time the two programs will face one another, with Kentucky winning the previous two matchups at home by a combined score of 85-16.

These kinds of cake walk games are quite common in college football, specifically in the SEC.

Why does the SEC get to play buy games this late in the season?

It all comes down to how the SEC schedules its year. The conference only plays eight games against members compared to the Big Ten's nine-game schedule.

On top of that, SEC teams — particularly high-profile programs — are typically scheduled into big matchups against other Power Conference foes at the start of the year.

Combined with that fact, that allows conference members to schedule an extra non-conference game later in the year, usually against a lower foe to make up for buy games other conferences are playing in the first month of the season.

In Kentucky's case, its major non-conference matchup comes at the end of the year against in-state rival and ACC member No. 22 Louisville (Nov. 30).

Smaller programs won't say no to a significant payday either despite the likely loss on its schedule. $600,000 is nothing to sneeze at for a program like Murray State that, like the Wildcats, is usually associated with college basketball rather than football.