LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Rich Brooks laughed at the question: Is there any reason to think Kentucky might be overconfident when the Wildcats host Tennessee?

The reporter asking the question during Brooks' news conference on Monday acknowledged it was a strange query, since the Wildcats (3-7, 2-5 SEC) haven't beaten Tennessee since 1984 -- before a good number of Kentucky's players were born.

But also consider that the Vols (4-6, 2-5) have been the biggest disappointment of the college football season, having started with a No. 3 preseason ranking but now needing a win over Kentucky to avoid the SEC Eastern Division cellar. Tennessee won't be going to a bowl game this season, the first time that's happened since 1988.

Brooks dismissed any notion of overconfidence, saying all he had to do "is put on the film (of Tennessee). If we're overconfident, we're not very intelligent."

But that doesn't mean the Wildcats don't think they can win Saturday in the season finale for both teams. They've played Tennessee respectably the last two years, losing 20-7 in 2003 after a blown call likely cost them a first-half touchdown and valuable momentum, and falling 37-31 in Knoxville last year, when Tennessee needed a touchdown with 38 seconds left to escape the upset bid.

"Any year you catch Tennessee with more losses than wins, you have to think you have a pretty good chance," senior center Matt McCutchan said.

If the Wildcats need a blueprint about how to end years of frustration against Tennessee, they can look at Vanderbilt. The Commodores beat Tennessee 24-21 last Saturday, ending the second-longest active losing streak in an uninterrupted series between major-college opponents at 22 games. Now, Kentucky's 20-game streak against Tennessee is No. 2 on that list, which is topped by Navy's 42 consecutive losses to Notre Dame.

Ironically, if Kentucky does beat the Vols, the new No. 2 on the list would be the Wildcats' streak of 19 straight losses to Florida.

"Can you imagine the consternation if Vanderbilt and Kentucky beat them in the same year? Whew," Brooks said. "Boy, I don't think that sells well down in Knoxville. So I think they're going to be ready, and we'd better be ready, too."

Tennessee hasn't lost to Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the same season since 1964.

Kentucky is coming off a 45-13 loss at then-No. 14 Georgia, but before that, the Wildcats had won two of their last three games, including a 48-43 win at Vanderbilt seven days before the Commodores beat Tennessee.

However, Brooks said starting quarterback Andre Woodson is questionable for Saturday with a sprained thumb on his left (non-throwing) hand. Backup Curtis Pulley, a true freshman, will receive extra repetitions in practice this week with the Wildcats' first-team unit.

Running back Rafael Little, who rushed for only 29 yards against Georgia but surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season in the process -- only the seventh time in school history that's been done -- is hampered by several injuries, the most severe being a strain of his quad muscle.

Brooks said Little, who fell from first to fourth on this season's NCAA Division I-A all-purpose yardage list, was to be held out of practice Tuesday. Little should play Saturday, although Brooks didn't know how effective Little might be.

Beating Tennessee would be special no matter what kind of season the Vols are having, freshman linebacker Ben McGrath said.

"It doesn't matter at all what their record is," McGrath said. "For us to get a win over Tennessee, after however long it's been since we've had one, would be a great thing for this program.

"I really hadn't realized (the streak) has been that long. That's way too long. We need to change that."