Kentucky Football Bowl Projections following the Bye Week

The bye week marked the unofficial midpoint of Kentucky’s 2022 season. The Cats (5-2, 2-2 SEC) have a huge opportunity this weekend at Tennessee. A win would resurrect dreams for a special season, but even with a loss, Kentucky can still finish strong with wins over Missouri, Vanderbilt, Louisville, and potentially Georgia.

Here are the latest bowl projections. As you can see, most experts have the Cats spending the postseason in Florida, with a few knocking them down a rung to the Music City Bowl on New Year’s Eve (which would conflict with the Kentucky-Louisville basketball game).

• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Gator Bowl vs. North Carolina (Dec. 30, 3:30 PM, ESPN, TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL)
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Syracuse (Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL)
• Brett McMurphy: Music City Bowl vs. Wisconsin (Dec. 31, Noon, ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Music City Bowl vs. Illinois (Dec. 31, Noon, ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN)
• Sports Illustrated: Citrus Bowl vs. Illinois (Jan. 2, 1 PM, ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• Sporting News: Citrus Bowl vs. Illinois (Jan. 2, 1 PM, ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• 247 Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Maryland (Dec. 31, Noon, ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN)
• College Football News: ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Minnesota (Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL)

There are some fun storylines here. A Citrus Bowl matchup vs. Illinois would pit Mark Stoops vs. fellow Iowa alum Bret Bielema, who used to coach Arkansas. A game vs. North Carolina would be fodder for a million “Basketball bluebloods meet on the gridiron” stories. But really, any bowl other than Music City, please (I’m sure Kentucky would do everything it can to avoid that scenario).