Many pundits are jumping on Kentucky football bandwagon

Georgia is the heavy favorite to win the SEC East again. That has been established. However, many are searching for who could be the next best team in the division. Among the national media, Kentucky is quickly becoming a trendy team.

On Saturday, Kirk Herbstreit went on record during ESPN’s first College Gameday episode of the season calling Kentucky a dark horse team in the SEC. ESPN’s Chris Low did the same thing just over a week ago. The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman is also on the bandwagon.

In his latest top 25, Feldman had Kentucky at No. 18 sandwiched in between Texas Tech and Utah. On the latest episode of The Audible, Feldman explained why he’s so high on the Cats in 2023.

A team that I have in the top 20 that I think could surprise some people is Kentucky. I really think Devin Leary — who was terrific a couple years ago for NC State — he’s gonna have a big year for them. They have good young receivers,” Feldman said about Kentucky when giving out his SEC dark horse. “I think they have some playmakers on defense. Mark Stoops is a really good coach, and I think they have a chance to surprise some people. To me, it wouldn’t surprise me if they ended up inside the top 15.”

Buzz keeps building for the Wildcats. Many are excited about what Leary could become in Lexington with Liam Coen holding the play sheet. Kentucky has an established standard on defense that will not be going away, and a fixed offensive line could help solve a ton of issues on offense.

Kentucky is a trendy team entering the season. Could the Cats make a run at a third 10-win season in six years? The pieces seem to be there for that to happen.