Kentucky Wildcats Football: How Soon is Now?
By Paul Jordan
Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
With the commitment of two four-star players for the 2015 class to the Kentucky Wildcats football team, Mark Stoops has proven that his recruiting skills are not a fluke. Kentucky now has the #17 class per Rivals for the 2015 season and that is coming on the heels of the best class in school history. Commonwealth Stadium is in the midst of an upgrade as are facilities and that will only aid in recruiting. The only left is for this Kentucky football team is to be a consistent winner and while some Kentucky fans are patient, some want to win. And NOW. And that is the million dollar question: How soon is now?
I saw a quote by Neal Brown the other day where he said this team was still a year away from being where the coaching staff wants them to be. And I tend to agree with that. Mark Stoops has basically had to rebuild from the ground up and 2015 seems to be the right time for this team to come together.
The Orlando Sentinel recently ranked Kentucky as the 107th best team in the country. Granted, I don’t know how much they researched the team, but this team will be better than that. You can’t expect the press outside Lexington to be kind to a team that has gone 4-20 and 0-16 in the SEC. Per the Sentinel, Kentucky has the 6th toughest schedule in the country and their opponents had a combined 98-55 record last year.
However, more wins than two will be expected this year. I expect at least four wins and a SEC win and I think that is a generous ground floor and I think it is very attainable. While Kentucky has a very tough schedule, it is friendly the first month and Kentucky could surprise some people.
Kentucky starts with home games versus Tennessee – Martin and Ohio. While Ohio is not the pushover team in the past, they did slip from nine to seven wins last year and have lost their starting quarterback, top two rushers, three of their top four receivers, and their best tight end. That’s a lot of talent for anyone and Kentucky will be returning most of their offensive talent. I know that it’s a stretch to say that UK will be a big favorite over anyone, but a 2-0 start is reasonable.