Kentucky Bowl Projections Entering Tennessee Week

Kentucky is still one win shy of bowl eligibility heading into the second half of the season. The Cats have five games left, three against ranked opponents (Tennessee, Alabama, Louisville). How they perform in those games will dictate what kind of postseason we’ll have.

Pull off some upsets, especially against Tennessee or Alabama, and the BBN could enjoy another trip to Florida. Drop all three and Kentucky will likely land in the tier of mediocre bowls. Thankfully, Mississippi State and South Carolina look beatable, but you have to win at least one of those road games or Kentucky’s streak of consecutive bowl seasons could end at seven.

For now, most talking heads have the Cats walking in Memphis on December 29.

• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Miami (Dec. 27, 5:30 PM, ESPN, Charlotte, NC)
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Liberty Bowl vs. Iowa State (Dec. 29, 3:30 PM, ESPN, Memphis, TN)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Birmingham Bowl vs. Rice (Dec. 23, Noon, ABC, Birmingham, AL)
• The Athletic: Liberty Bowl vs. BYU (Dec. 29, 3:30 PM, ESPN, Memphis, TN)
• Brett McMurphy: Liberty Bowl vs. Iowa State (Dec. 29, 3:30 PM, ESPN, Memphis, TN)
• 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford: Birmingham Bowl vs. Houston (Dec. 23, Noon, ABC & ESPN, Montgomery, AL)

Brad Crawford puts the Cats in the Birmingham Bowl but notes that a lot could change if Kentucky pulls off some big wins down the stretch.

“No disrespect to the Wildcats, but expect Mark Stoops’ team to be at the bottom of the SEC’s pecking order in a few weeks when bowl pairings are announced after likely finishing 7-5,” Crawford wrote. “If the Wildcats get to eight wins and one of those comes against Tennessee in Lexington, you might be able to flip those teams in the postseason. The finale at Louisville is vital toward playing in one of the SEC’s upper-tier tie-ins.”

After years of cruising vs. the Cards, the stakes could be high going into the Governor’s Cup on Thanksgiving weekend.

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Where Kentucky, Tennessee stand in the national rankings

To no one’s surprise, Kentucky did not climb back into the Top 25 yesterday. The Cats are No. 33 in the AP Poll and No. 32 in the Coaches Poll. Tennessee fell four spots in the AP Poll to No. 21 and five spots to No. 20 in the Coaches Poll after its loss to Alabama.

Kentucky did crack the Top 25 of another national ranking. The Cats moved up one spot to No. 25 in The Athletic’s ranking of the 133 teams in college football. That’s ahead of Tennessee, which is No. 29. Chris Vannini was not high on the Vols heading into the weekend and he certainly is not after they blew a halftime lead in Tuscaloosa.

“I remain surprised the Vols are ranked in the polls given their loss to Florida and their best win coming against Texas A&M,” he wrote.

CBS Sports’ panel kept Kentucky out of the Top 25 of its rankings. Here’s where the Cats and their opponents stand in all of them:

Team	Record	AP	Coaches	The Athletic	CBS Sports
Kentucky	5-2	RV (33)	RV (32)	25	31
Ball State	2-6	NR	NR	125	119
EKU	3-4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Akron	1-7	NR	NR	129	132
Vanderbilt	2-6	NR	NR	106	99
Florida	5-2	RV (26)	RV (26)	26	25
Georgia	7-0	1	1	2	2
Missouri	7-1	16	16	17	16
Tennessee	5-2	21	20	29	22
Mississippi State	4-3	NR	NR	49	56
Alabama	7-1	9	8	8	9
South Carolina	2-5	NR	NR	68	68
Louisville	6-1	18	18	14	20

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