Let's compare the 2017 football season to 2016, at this point

When it comes to being a Kentucky football fan, there are ups and downs. Ups and downs that are felt not only from season to season, but more specifically, week to week. Last year went from fans starting the search for Mark Stoops' replacement to singing his praises after upsetting Louisville on the road. Right now, fan morale is low after watching Kentucky get throttled by Mississippi State on Saturday. Fans' frustrations and criticisms of the product on the field are certainly warranted. However, in times like these in the heat of regular season, it is very easy to lose perspective. I decided to go back and compare this season to 2016 at this point. Kentucky currently as a record of 5-2. Our two losses were to Florida and Mississippi State, two games we were projected to lose. We have four wins against teams we were favored against, and one win against South Carolina, a game in which we were underdogs. We are 3-1 in one possession games (So. Miss, Florida, E. Michigan, Missouri). In 2016, Kentucky was 4-3. We had two losses in games in which we were the underdog and one loss in a game we were favored. Three of our wins were games in which we were the underdog and one where we were favored. We were 3-0 in games decided by one possession (Vandy, Miss. St, South Carolina). At this point in the season, there really isn't much of a difference between the two years in terms of record. This year, we were able to beat Southern Miss on the road after dropping the season opener to them just a year prior. Based off of this information alone, one could argue the Cats are better at this point than they were last year. However, there is a glaring difference between the two seasons at this point, and that difference lies in fan morale. Last year we were fresh off a last second field goal victory over Mississippi State. This year, the same team destroyed us. At this time last year, UK fans were much more optimistic than this year, even with one less victory. Why? Well it wasn't because the remaining schedule was easier. This year, we are (most likely) favored in three of our five remaining games. Last year, we were favored in one of our last five (Austin Peay). So last season, with one less victory and a less favorable remaining schedule, fans at this point were in much higher spirits than they are this year. But why? Well, there could be a few reasons. Let's speculate. Our brains weren't made to be great football fans. In football, a fan gets to watch his or her team 12 times over the course of about 3 months. Really, a fan can only base his or her opinion of their team on what he or she has seen in the previous week or two. Our brains tend to favor our more recent memories because those memories are easier to retrieve. That beating we took Saturday is still fresh in our mind while the road win against South Carolina seems like ancient history. It's very human of us to currently have a pessimistic mind set. Fans were expecting to see more. Fans simply are expecting more this year. It is exciting to see consistent improvement, because it gives us hope. Last year, we finally won the games and went to a bowl. This year, we look pretty much like last years team with very little evidence of improvement. The same mistakes continue to be made as we narrowly scrape out victories. For some fans, I think this has been very discouraging. We're playing Tennessee on Saturday. You know, I've heard a lot of fans bring up they aren't feeling good about Saturday just because we're playing Tennessee. Tennessee isn't any good. I promise. Don't be scared. We can take 'em. Lastly, we shouldn't really know how to feel. As casual CFB fans, we really have no idea exactly what we are watching on Saturdays. Football makes absolutely no sense and is totally stupid. After losing to Troy at home, you'd expect LSU to lose one of their next three games against Florida, Auburn or Ole Miss. Nope. They won all three, two of which were on the road because football makes zero sense. My point here being, we have no idea what in the heck is going to happen, therefore we should never know how to feel about our team. Just remember, football season takes a while. Sometimes it is best for us to detach ourselves and look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture is we are 5-2, in the SEC east, a division with a bunch of other mediocre teams, and pretty favorable remaining schedule. Let's give it some time, maybe. Or you can remain perpetually frustrated, that's cool too.