Predicting the rest of Kentucky's football season with a bowl prediction

As Kentucky football is in its bye week, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the journey so far and predict what could lie ahead. It's an early bye week in the calendar so it's hard to really know what we have in these Wildcats. After barely losing to Georgia and upsetting Ole Miss, are they a great SEC team? Or do we look back at the curb stomping that South Carolina gave Kentucky and ask, are the Wildcats a bad team? Or maybe are they just a bit Jekyll and Hyde?

Kentucky enters this week 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. Their best win is against a #6 Ole Miss, and their worst loss is against a South Carolina team that ranks 25th in FPI at 9.1 and actually ranks below Kentucky. This means that even though the Gamecocks game was uncompetitive, it truly may be the anomaly of the season and not the expectation.

If Kentucky beats who they are supposed to beat and loses to who they are supposed to lose to, according to Vegas odds, they will be 7-5. However, 8-4, 9-3, and 10-2 are all still in play. 10-2 is a huge stretch, as that's a win-out scenario, and Kentucky Head Coach Mark Stoops has never gone on a run like that. The most wins in a row for Stoops is six, and that was to begin the 2021 season. This means they got the luxury of having two of those wins against lesser competition (Chattanooga and UL Monroe).

That being said, those six wins in a row in 2021 were truly an impressive run in its own right. They knocked off a 10th-ranked Florida team in the fifth game of the season. They would then beat LSU, and finally, #1 Georgia stopped the run. Winning the rest of the way would be a run of seven straight wins, and most of that, besides Murray State, are SEC games, including two top-5 teams in Tennessee and Texas.

Thus, a 10-2 Wildcats team is too much to ask for, as much as I would love to see it, and it's hard to get the images of their embarrassing loss to the Gamecocks out of my head. Do they have another clunker in store for us, or did they cleanse their palette of that?

Let's dive into their schedule and give some predictions and let me put on my optimism hat:

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt 10/12

Their next game is against a Vanderbilt team that showed a real threat to pull off a big upset last week. They almost pulled it off against a #7 ranked Missouri team, losing 30-27. However, they also lost the previous game to a Sun Belt team, Georgia State 36-32.

Prediction: Win 27-13

Kentucky @ Florida 10/19

Florida has been a yo-yo this football season. They are 2-2 with wins over the worst team in the SEC, Mississippi State, and Samford. They have lost to Miami and Texas A&M. This week against UCF may be telling to see if they are actually more of an average team or if they indeed are bad.

Prediction: Win 20-10

Kentucky vs. Auburn 10/26

Auburn isn't good this year, but for some reason, this game makes me a little nervous. Maybe it's because it sneaks up right before Kentucky has to take on Tennessee, and I worry the Wildcats will be looking ahead. Auburn will most likely be on a four-game losing streak at this point and will want to beat Kentucky so badly. This is a trap game, and I don't like it, but I will predict a win here.

Prediction: Win 23-20

Kentucky at Tennessee 11/2

I hate to say it, but Tennessee looks really good this year. Going on the road in the SEC is tough, but much less against a top opponent. Kentucky will want this game more than any game on their schedule, and they will come in ready to take down the Volunteers. Can they do it? My heart says yes, but my brain says no. Ugh.

Prediction: Loss 19-10

Kentucky vs. Murray St. 11/16

A little tune-up game in the middle of Kentucky's toughest stretch of games—nice! This will feel nice between Tennessee and Texas.

Prediction: Win 34-6

Kentucky at Texas 11/23

I really want to give Tennessee the upset game, and I do think that Kentucky has another big upset in them. As much as I want to see it be the Vols, I actually think it's the Longhorns. I think Kentucky's defense matches up against Steve Sarkisian's offense really well and could cause some problems for Texas. If I can look far enough into my crystal ball, this will look and feel like the Ole Miss game.

Prediction: Win 20-17

Kentucky vs. Louisville 11/30

Louisville is not as good as they were expected to be or even as they appear to be so far. I think they may have four or five losses by the time Kentucky gets to face them. Kentucky won't lose to both of their rivals this year, and Louisville will still be licking its wounds from another season that could have been.

Prediction: Win 31-16

This would be a great result for Kentucky, and I hope that the Wildcats can walk away from this season and into a bowl game at 9-3. It does feel like it may be an 8-4 season, but I don't know exactly where that will be. They probably have another upset in them, but maybe they don't. Kentucky may also struggle against a team that they shouldn't. However, if this prediction plays out, they will be at 9-3 and could easily find themselves in a top bowl and potentially even a college football playoff conversation.

Bowl Prediction:
Citrus Bowl - Kentucky vs. Indiana