History Between Kentucky Football and 3 New 2024 Opponents

The highly anticipated 2024 Kentucky football schedule is not complete, but we do know the opponents. After years of debate over a new scheduling format with 16 teams in the Southeastern Conference, league officials did not try to reinvent the wheel in season No. 1.

Five of Kentucky’s SEC opponents in 2024 are Eastern division opponents the Wildcats have played annually since the early 90s. The other three are less familiar foes. Here’s what happened the last time the Wildcats faced Ole Miss, Auburn and Texas in the setting we’ll see them in the fall of 2024.

2022 — Ole Miss 22, Kentucky 19

Barion Brown put the team on his back and almost single-handedly willed Kentucky to a Top 15 victory on the road in Oxford. He’ll get the chance to do it again during his third season in the Bluegrass.

The first Kentucky football game in Oxford since 2010, and only the fourth in the last 30 years, the Wildcats had too many chances to steal a win from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Ranked No. 7 in the country, Brown was racing toward the end zone to retake the lead on a kickoff return when he was tripped up by his own teammate. Will Levis fumbled away a late red zone possession. A few minutes later Brown once again raced down the field and put UK within touchdown-scoring range. Levis snapped the ball too quickly, a penalty wiped away the go-ahead touchdown and the ball was stripped from behind on the following play.

Last year’s loss to the Rebels felt different than the previous two in the Mark Stoops era, yet the margin was similar. Stoops is 0-3 against Ole Miss, losing by a combined seven points. For those who missed a chance to go to The Grove last fall, hopefully a trend is reversed for the next visit to Oxford.

Got thoughts? Subscribe to KSR+ to continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR+ Message Board.

2015 — Auburn 30, Kentucky 27

Auburn’s last trip to Lexington was an unforgettable day for the KSR crew. In year three of Mark Stoops’ tenure, the Big Blue Nation was ready for a breakthrough to manifest during a Thursday night primetime showdown at the newly renovated Commonwealth Stadium. KSR was on the air from 10 am till kickoff, and of course there were technical difficulties. The onsite four-wheeler carrying the radio equipment was driven into a curve, throwing a wrench into the equation. Eventually it was tossed on the back of a flatbed and escorted around various tailgates.

Lexington was buzzing. Unfortunately, Kentucky did not feed off that energy. Auburn pounced first, taking a 23-10 lead into the halftime locker room. The Wildcats played the whole night from behind, but never gave up, cutting the deficit to three entering the fourth quarter.

Kentucky had a chance to retake the lead or force overtime with one final possession that started on the 15-yard line. Big plays from Jeff Badet and Juice Johnson got the Cats to midfield before the drive stalled with a fourth down stop. Johnson had 160 receiving yards and Boom Williams tallied 113 on the ground with two touchdowns, but Kentucky could not deliver a big win for the BBN in primetime, ultimately keeping the Cats out of the postseason with a 5-7 final record.

1951 — Texas 7, Kentucky 6

The Wildcats will return to Austin for the first time since Bear Bryant roamed the Kentucky sidelines. Facing the No. 11 Longhorns, Kentucky completely dominated the game, until they gave it all away.

Kentucky had 21 first downs to Texas’ eight and out-gained the Longhorns 287-221, but SIX turnovers sealed the Wildcats’ fate. All-American quarterback Babe Parilli completed 18-of-33 passes for 142 yards, and threw the only touchdown score of the day. The game-tying PAT failed and Parilli was picked off three times in the 50th-straight home-opening win for the Longhorns.

Despite the early season loss in the Texas heat that started a three-game losing streak, Kentucky ended the season with a win in the Lone Star State. Kentucky rattled off six straight wins to earn a spot in the Cotton Bowl where the No. 15 Wildcats defeated No. 11 TCU 20-7. Kentucky did not win another bowl game for 25 years.