Coming into the season, the Big Blue Nation and the Kentucky Wildcat football team had historically high expectations. There was plenty of reason to believe so, with the primary reason being the amount of talent that decided to return from a 10-win team, including Will Levis, Chris Rodriguez, and several other key seniors.
Through the first five weeks, Kentucky lived up to the preseason hype, sitting at 4-1 with a win at Florida. However, the Wildcats went just 3-4 since and that includes a loss to Vanderbilt.
This past Saturday, Kentucky did defeat a ranked Louisville team in the Governor’s Cup, but at 7-5, the Wildcats have just the eighth-best record in the SEC. When you consider that only one SEC team is projected to make the playoff, Kentucky’s bowl options are slim.
With that said, recent projections have them going to some familiar bowl games.
Let’s take a look.
- Brad Crawford: TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Illinois Fighting Illini (Dec. 31st, 12:00 p.m., ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN).
- Brett McMurphy: TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Minnesota Gophers (Dec. 31st, 12:00 p.m., ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
- Jerry Palm: TaxAct Texas Bowl vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 28th, 9:00 p.m., ESPN, NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
- TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Minnesota Gophers (Dec. 31st, 12:00 p.m., ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
- Kyle Bonagura: SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl vs. Oregon State Beavers (Dec. 17th. 7:30 p.m., ABC Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV)
- Mark Schlabach: TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Minnesota Gophers (Dec. 31st, 12:00 p.m., ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
- Bill Bender: Guaranteed Rate Bowl vs. Baylor Bears (Dec. 27th, 10:15 p.m., ESPN, Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ)
Last week’s projections did have some more interesting matchups, including potential games against prestigious football schools like Notre Dame or Florida State or getting some payback against Wisconsin for the 2015 Final Four loss. However, this could provide a matchup that would otherwise not be seen as Kentucky has not played any of the teams listed since 1978 (Baylor), in the case of Minnesota and Oklahoma State, have never played.
With that said, it is still unknown who the Wildcats will play, it is all but a guarantee that they will play their bowl game in Nashville, Texas, or Vegas.
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