UK Fans of the Day want updated Kentucky Bowl Projections

Week one of the 2024 college football season is officially done. As you know, Kentucky cruised to a 31-0 win over Southern Miss on a very odd night at Kroger Field. Given the opponent, the victory did little to move the needle when it comes to bowl projections.

A fresh batch of postseason predictions are out this morning. The Liberty Bowl in Memphis on Dec. 27 remains the most popular choice for Kentucky, although College Football News and 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford put the Cats in Nashville or Vegas.

• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Liberty Bowl vs. UCF – Dec. 27, 7 p.m., ESPN
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Liberty Bowl vs. Iowa State – Dec. 27, 7 p.m. ESPN
• Brett McMurphy: Liberty Bowl vs. UCF – Dec. 27, 7 p.m., ESPN
• College Football News: Music City Bowl vs. Wisconsin – Dec. 30, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
• Brad Crawford: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Arizona – Dec. 27, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

If Kentucky does draw the Liberty Bowl, it will be the football team’s first trip to Memphis since January 2009, when the Cats beat Eastern Carolina 25-19. Saturday’s game vs. South Carolina could help the Cats aim higher. Take care of business vs. the Gamecocks and bigger, better bowls will be in play. Drop a third straight to South Carolina and the margin of error for bowl eligibility becomes much thinner.

2024 SEC Bowl Ties/Affiliations

With the season kicking off, now’s a good time to 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

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Kentucky Football 2024 Schedule

• Aug. 31: Southern Miss – 7:45 PM, SEC Network – 31-0 W
• Sep. 7: South Carolina – 3:30 PM, ABC
• Sep. 14: Georgia – 7:30 PM, ABC
• Sep. 21: Ohio – 12:45 PM, SEC Network
• Sep. 28: at Ole Miss – 12:00 PM, ABC or ESPN
• Oct. 12: Vanderbilt – TBA
• Oct. 19: at Florida – TBA
• Oct. 26: Auburn – TBA
• Nov. 2: at Tennessee – TBA
• Nov. 16: Murray State – 1:30 PM, SEC Network+/ESPN+
• Nov. 23: at Texas – TBA
• Nov. 30: Louisville – TBA