Kentucky football: 3 most overrated teams on 2023 schedule

Kentucky football is heading into year 11 under Mark Stoops, the longest-tenured coach in program history. Stoops has made UK a consistent winner, making bowl games in the last seven seasons. However, the Wildcats seem to come in underrated every year and prove the poll voters wrong.

2023 is no exception. The Wildcats come in unranked in the AP and Coaches polls, despite returning solid cores on both sides of the football. The team also brings in Devin Leary, who looks to fill the shoes of Will Levis at quarterback.

Even though Kentucky football has been an upper-echelon SEC team for the better half of the past decade, they still don’t seem to gain the same respect as some of the more traditional teams.

This year, some of those SEC teams will be favored against the Wildcats, even though Kentucky has just as a competitive roster on paper, if not better. With the exception of home games against Alabama and Tennessee and an away game at Georgia, UK has a good chance in the remaining nine games. That includes an away contest with Louisville to end the regular season.

Still, the Wildcats are projected by most college football analysts to finish somewhere between 5-7 and 7-5. While a bowl game is never a bad end-of-year treat, UK has the talent to finish with an even better record. Part of it is the experts overlooking Kentucky. Another reason is the experts siding too much with the other SEC teams.

This season, there are three teams on Kentucky’s schedule who are a bit overrated.