Kentucky Relishing Opportunity to Thrive in Underdog Role

Kentucky got plenty of bulletin board material at SEC Media Days. Well, I should correct that. Is it really bulletin board material if no one is talking about you?

That was the case for the Wildcats, who generated arguably the least amount of buzz of any team all week in Atlanta. Mark Stoops is the dean of the SEC. He’s the only coach who was in the league when Greg Sankey became the commissioner 11 years ago. Despite that longevity, there wasn’t much to say about the Wildcats.

That became abundantly clear when preseason polls were released following SEC Media Days. The Wildcats were picked to finish 15th out of 16 teams. Aidan Laros was the only UK player to earn preseason All-SEC recognition, and he was the third-team punter who tied with another player.

Kentucky has brought buzz to this event before. The Wildcats were picked to finish second in the East ahead of the 2022 season, but finished with a disappointing 7-5 record. They’ve been at their best when they haven’t been given respect, like when they were tabbed as the fifth-best team in the East back in 2018 and rattled off a 10-win season. This is where Mark Stoops is most comfortable.

“I kind of enjoy it. It is what it is, you know what I mean?” Stoops told ESPN on Thursday. “Bring the Youngstown out of me, right? Put me in a corner. Let me fight my way out. … I feel an obligation to this great university that’s been so loyal and so good to me and our fan base. That’s what I care about.”

The players are not naive. They know that expectations are low following a 4-8 season.

“We’re overlooked right now, as we should be from the season we had, but that’s good. That brings fuel to the fire. We’re just playing with a chip on our shoulder,” said defensive back Jordan Lovett. “We really have something to play for this year.”

“They make it sound like we’re a lost cause, but then I’d argue lost causes are the only things worth fighting for, and that what I’m doing, what we’re doing here, is worthwhile,” Shiyazh Pete recently told KSR.

Kentucky will have plenty of opportunities to prove the naysayers wrong. The Wildcats are projected to be double-digit underdogs in five games this fall. That’s more than enough fuel to light a fire under these overlooked Wildcats.

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