Kentucky's Bowl Projections Entering Ole Miss Week

Kentucky took care of business vs. Ohio, moving to 2-2 on the season and four wins away from bowl eligibility. The national media still believes the Cats will reach that mark for the ninth straight season.

This week’s bowl projections haven’t changed much from last week’s. Houston on New Year’s Eve vs. BYU? What about the Birmingham Bowl vs. Jon Sumrall and Tulane? Or a Music City Bowl rematch vs. Iowa? Choose your adventure from the list below:

• Brett McMurphy: Texas Bowl vs. BYU (Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN, Houston)
• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagrua: Birmingham Bowl vs. Tulane (Dec. 27, Noon or 3:30 p.m., ESPN, Birmingham)
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Music City Bowl vs. Iowa (Dec. 30, 2:30 p.m., ESPN, Nashville)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Liberty Bowl vs. UCF (Dec. 27, 7 p.m., ESPN, Memphis)
• Brad Crawford: Liberty Bowl vs. Kansas State (Dec. 27, 7 p.m., ESPN, Memphis)

These bowl projections aren’t exactly exciting. Obviously, upsetting No. 6 Ole Miss in Oxford would change that, but the odds of that happening are low. Kentucky is currently a 17.5-point underdog to the Rebels. The two games after that on the schedule are far more important for bowl eligibility.

After a bye week, Kentucky hosts Vanderbilt and then travels to Florida. Both squads are also 2-2, the ‘Dores coming off a heartbreaking 30-27 overtime loss to No. 7 Missouri. Florida beat a bad Mississippi State soundly in Starkville. To put themselves in a position to reach six wins, Kentucky needs to win both games. If they drop one, the Cats must beat Auburn at home on Oct. 26. Vanderbilt is actually the highest-ranked team of that group in The Athletic’s ranking of all 134 teams in the FBS, coming in at No. 49. Kentucky is No. 54.

Here’s the rest of the schedule with where each team currently sits in The Athletic’s rankings:

• Aug. 31: Southern Miss (No. 125) – 7:45 PM, SEC Network – 31-0 W
• Sep. 7: South Carolina (No. 45) – 3:30 PM, ABC – 31-6 L
• Sep. 14: Georgia (No. 2) – 7:30 PM, ABC – 13-12 L
• Sep. 21: Ohio (No. 104) – 12:45 PM, SEC Network – 41-6 W
• Sep. 28: at Ole Miss (No. 5) – 12:00 PM, ABC
• Oct. 12: Vanderbilt (No. 49) – TBA
• Oct. 19: at Florida (No. 66) – TBA
• Oct. 26: Auburn (No. 63) – TBA
• Nov. 2: at Tennessee (No. 3) – TBA
• Nov. 16: Murray State – 1:30 PM, SEC Network+/ESPN+
• Nov. 23: at Texas (No. 1) – TBA
• Nov. 30: Louisville (No. 23) – TBA

2024 SEC Bowl Ties/Affiliations

If Kentucky does make it to six wins, what bowl will they draw? Let’s revisit the SEC’s bowl ties/affiliations for this season. This year, the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, including the top five conference champions and the next seven at-large teams. You can assume at least a few SEC teams will be among that group. The SEC and Big Ten alternate between the Las Vegas Bowl (2020, 2022, 2024) and Duke’s Mayo Bowl (2021, 2023, 2025); this is the SEC’s year to send a team to Sin City.

Here is the pecking order:

• College Football Playoff
• Cheez-It Citrus Bowl vs Big Ten
• Pool of 6:
  • AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs Big 12
  • Las Vegas Bowl vs Former Pac-12
  • ReliaQuest Bowl vs Big Ten or ACC
  • TaxAct Texas Bowl vs Big 12 
  • TaxSlayer Gator Bowl vs ACC
  • TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Big Ten
• If needed:
  • Birmingham Bowl vs American Athletic
  • Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs AAC or ACC