UK Fans of the Day want Kentucky Preseason Bowl Projections

Kentucky’s 2024 season doesn’t kick off until next Saturday, but today marks the start of Week Zero, so we’ve got a fresh batch of bowl projections to pore over. One potential postseason destination will excite the Big Blue Nation. The other? Well, it’s within driving distance.

Let’s start with the latter. Brett McMurphy has Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl, playing Central Florida on December 27 in Memphis. The Cats are a one-point underdog vs. the Knights in this hypothetical. This would be Kentucky Football’s first trip to Memphis since January 2009, when the Cats beat Eastern Carolina 25-19.

It speaks to how far Kentucky Football has come under Mark Stoops that the Liberty Bowl would feel like a disappointing end to the season; however, given the Cats’ very difficult schedule, 6-6 or 7-5 is not outside the realm of possibility. If so, it’ll be interesting to see how many Kentucky fans will be walking in Memphis two days after Christmas.

Over at CBS Sports, Jerry Palm has the Cats playing in a different bowl on the same day. Palm pits Kentucky vs. the West Coast Wildcats, Arizona, in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 27. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, making for a very late night. For those who go, watching Kentucky vs. Arizona at Allegiant Stadium and celebrating (or commiserating) on the Strip afterward sounds like a pretty great time.

2024 SEC Bowl Ties/Affiliations

With the season kicking off, now’s a good time to revisit the SEC’s bowl ties/affiliations for this season. This year, the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, including the top five conference champions and the next seven at-large teams. You can assume at least a few SEC teams will be among that group. The SEC and Big Ten alternate between the Las Vegas Bowl (2020, 2022, 2024) and Duke’s Mayo Bowl (2021, 2023, 2025); this is the SEC’s year to send a team to Sin City.

Here is the pecking order:

• College Football Playoff
• Cheez-It Citrus Bowl vs Big Ten
• Pool of 6:
  • AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs Big 12
  • Las Vegas Bowl vs Former Pac-12
  • ReliaQuest Bowl vs Big Ten or ACC
  • TaxAct Texas Bowl vs Big 12 
  • TaxSlayer Gator Bowl vs ACC
  • TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Big Ten
• If needed:
  • Birmingham Bowl vs American Athletic
  • Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs AAC or ACC

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Kentucky Football 2024 Schedule

• Aug. 31: Southern Miss – 7:45 PM, SEC Network
• Sep. 7: South Carolina – 3:30 PM, ABC
• Sep. 14: Georgia – 7:30 PM, ABC
• Sep. 21: Ohio – 12:45 PM, SEC Network
• Sep. 28: at Ole Miss – 12:00 PM, ABC or ESPN
• Oct. 12: Vanderbilt – TBA
• Oct. 19: at Florida – TBA
• Oct. 26: Auburn – TBA
• Nov. 2: at Tennessee – TBA
• Nov. 16: Murray State – 1:30 PM, SEC Network+/ESPN+
• Nov. 23: at Texas – TBA
• Nov. 30: Louisville – TBA