Peach-Flavored Kentucky Football Bowl Projections Following Bye Week

The Wildcats took a break from the gridiron this week. As Mark Stoops’ team got healthy during the bye, other teams across the college football landscape faltered, shaking up the Kentucky football bowl projections. One upset could have a big impact on who UK plays in the postseason.

In a few previous Kentucky football bowl projections, Coastal Carolina was the Wildcats’ opponent. The Chanticleers are undefeated no more after a weeknight loss at Appalachian State. Coastal is the worst kind of bowl opponent — even if you win you don’t get credit for beating a quality opponent because they aren’t a name brand. Thankfully, they’re now out of contention for a New Year’s Six Bowl.

As always, let’s have a friendly reminder of the bowl structure before we dive into the projections.

College Football Playoff

• College Football Playoff Semifinal: Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31, TBA, Arlington, TX)
• College Football Playoff Semifinal: Orange Bowl (Dec. 31, TBA, Miami, FL)
• College Football Playoff National Championship (Jan. 10, TBA, Indianapolis, IN)

Rest of the New Year’s Six Bowls

• Sugar Bowl: SEC vs. Big 12 (Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m., New Orleans, LA)
• Rose Bowl: Big 10 vs. Pac-12 (Jan. 1, 5 p.m., Pasadena, CA)
• Fiesta Bowl: At-large vs. at-large (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., Glendale, AZ)
• Peach Bowl: At-large vs. at-large (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., Atlanta, GA)

From here, teams are assigned to the rest of the bowls. The Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1) and Outback Bowl (Jan. 1) are considered the best of the rest.

Kentucky Football Bowl Projections

• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Peach Bowl vs. Michigan State (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Citrus Bowl vs. Iowa (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• On3’s Mike Huguenin: Peach Bowl vs. Pitt (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Peach Bowl vs. Michigan (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
• 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford: Citrus Bowl vs. Penn State (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• College Football News: Peach Bowl vs. Iowa (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
• Saturday Down South’s Jim Tomlin: Peach Bowl vs. Wake Forest (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)

Even though ESPN’s Kyle Bongura believes Kentucky is currently on the outside looking in, the Wildcats are knocking on the New Year’s Six door. “The Wildcats are 6-1 and should be favored in every game the rest of the way,” said Bonagura. “If they win out, they’ll be a lock for a New Year’s Six bowl, but it’s worth noting that in that scenario they would finish without a win against a team currently ranked in the AP Top 25.”

If Kentucky is able to win its way into the New Year’s Six to play in the Peach Bowl, it would be the Wildcats’ third appearance in the Atlanta bowl game that has grown in prestige over the last two decades. The 1993 UK team lost a 14-13 heartbreaker to Clemson, while the 1976 team capped off an 8-win season with a 21-0 win over North Carolina.