When the Wall Street Journal published a report this week detailing how several preseason top programs, no. 1 Texas, no. 2 Penn State, and no. 4 Clemson, had collapsed, a Kentucky fan jumped into the online conversation asking one simple question:
“How can everyone be so wrong about them, but so right about us?”
A fan's question, A brutal reply
The reply from CFB Reddit’s official X account was as cold as it was accurate:
“Sorry, Wildcats, it was hard to get wrong.”
Sorry, Wildcats, it was hard to get wrong... https://t.co/nHU5WCcjLa pic.twitter.com/uBxLeR0LaS
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 8, 2025
That one sentence sums up the mood in Lexington. Kentucky isn’t just losing; it’s predictable now. The Wildcats have become the SEC’s “get-right” game, the one you circle when your team needs a confidence boost.
That's how last weekend's beatdown in Athens was framed, a game Georgia needed to get some confidence and feel good about themselves. It is year 13 and Mark Stoops has become the get right coach.
Predictably stagnant
Through five games, Kentucky sits at 2–3. No SEC wins. No real progress. The same mistakes, the same play-calling, the same postgame quotes. Mark Stoops is in year 13, one of the top 15 highest-paid coaches in college football, yet the product on the field looks alarmingly stagnant.
Even Florida, the only team close to Kentucky in power rankings, managed to scrape out a conference win against Texas. The Wildcats, meanwhile, are watching fan morale and recruiting momentum evaporate. Kroger Field was still loud, but the faith is fading fast and it may be depressingly bad next weekend when the Longhorns come in.
The scariest part for BBN
The Wall Street Journal report wasn’t even about Kentucky, but somehow, it feels like it was. The program’s decline has become the kind of open secret no one bothers to argue about anymore. It is just accepted as a fact by most people.
Everyone looks at Kentucky as a basement dweller, everyone that is, except Mitch Barnhart who refuses to make a move.
And that’s the scariest part for BBN.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion