Kentucky has 13th toughest schedule according to ESPN's FPI

There are many that are not huge fans of ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI). However, there is still value that can be pulled from this set of power rankings. In the preseason, there can be a lot to unpack.

With preview magazine season quickly approaching, the college football community is beginning to do some research in order to make projections. When making win/loss predictions, schedule strength can have a big say.

Despite having three games against two MAC schools and an FCS program, Kentucky has one of the toughest schedules in college football this season. ESPN’s FPI has UK with the 13th toughest schedule in all of college football.

1. Ole Miss
2. Minnesota
3. Florida
4. Maryland
5. Auburn
6. Arkansas
7. Michigan State
8. Tennessee
9. Rutgers
10. Indiana
11. South Carolina
12. Texas
13. Kentucky
14. Penn State
15. LSU
16. Texas A&M
17. Purdue
18. Alabama
19. Notre Dame
20. Missouri
21. Michigan
22. Georgia Tech
23. Ohio State
24. Mississippi State
25. Wisconsin

To no one’s surprise, there are a bunch of SEC teams in the top 25 and only one ACC team. For Kentucky, drawing Alabama from the SEC West has made things more difficult in 2023. The difficult schedule plays a big role in the lines set for season win totals. Kentucky’s was set maybe a half game lower than expected due to the increase in schedule diffculty.

At the end of the day, projections are still projections. We have to see how things actually play out on the field but it is worth pointing out that things could be more difficult than normal for Kentucky this year. That’s mostly due to Alabama making a trip to Kroger Field in November.