Kentucky Football Ranks in Top 5 of Strength of Schedule in 2024

Each year ahead of the Governor’s Cup, there’s a familiar refrain from folks in the city of Louisville. “But who has Kentucky really played?” Hacks use the transitive property to try to diminish Kentucky’s success in the SEC and point to MAC opponents in the non-conference as a sign of weakness.

After a week of schedule talk, Kentucky completely overwhelms Louisville and you don’t hear a peep from those fools. What they fail to understand is that when you play in a good conference, you do not need to schedule big-name non-conference opponents. That’s why Kentucky plays Louisville every year.

The future of the Governor’s Cup may be in jeopardy as the SEC expands. The challenge of playing in this league for Kentucky is illustrated clearly in the first season of the 16-team league.

Kentucky has the fourth-most difficult schedule in the country, according to ESPN FPI.

They only trail Florida, Mississippi State, and Georgia. Notice a common theme there? That’s because in FPI’s strength of schedule rankings, SEC teams have nine of the ten most difficult schedules in the country.

It’s pretty clear why the Wildcats schedule is so difficult. All four of their road trips are to face teams ranked in the top 20 to start the season: No. 3 Texas, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 16 Ole Miss, and No. 20 Florida. The Wildcats also host No. 1 Georgia, No. 19 Auburn, and No. 21 Louisville.

Southern Miss, Aug. 31, 7:45, SEC Network
South Carolina, Sept. 7, 3:30, ABC
Georgia, Sept. 14, 7:00, ABC
Ohio, Sept. 21
at Ole Miss, Sept. 28
BYE, Oct. 5
Vanderbilt, Oct. 12
at Florida, Oct. 19
Auburn, Oct. 26
at Tennessee, Nov. 2
BYE, Nov. 9
Murray State, Nov. 16
at Texas, Nov. 23
Louisville, Nov. 30

Game times for the entire Kentucky football schedule will be released on Tuesday at 2 pm EST on the SEC Network.

Kentucky in ESPN FPI Rankings

The FPI is a power rating that tracks each team’s strength relative to an average FBS squad. Kentucky cracked the Top 25 of the ESPN SP+ power rankings, but is ranked No. 34 in FPI. The power rating projects a 6-6 record for the Wildcats and gives Kentucky a 61.4% chance to become bowl-eligible for a ninth straight season.

FPI also tries to handicap the CFB Playoff race, a difficult task considering this is the first year of the 12-team format. It may seem far-fetched against the schedule, but I’m telling you there’s a chance. The power rating gives Mark Stoops’ program a 4.8% chance to make the first iteration of the new CFB Playoff.