UK football receiving post-spring hype
Spring practice has concluded, and the NCAA spring transfer window has closed, so early projections for the 2024 football season have started rolling out.
With a little more than three months remaining until Kentucky’s season-opening matchup against Southern Miss, the Wildcats have been garnering some national attention. ESPN released its final preseason SP+ rankings — a formula based on several factors — on Tuesday, with UK coming in at No. 25. In a separate ranking that more likely reflects what the preseason Associated Press Top 25 will look like, ESPN put the Cats at No. 30.
The SP+ calculations are based heavily on each team’s returning production, with recent recruiting making up another moderate amount of the formula. A program’s recent history also slightly factors into the final projections.
The good news for the Wildcats is that they’ve done enough to merit preseason recognition. The bad news, however, is the same problem that will continue to plague UK: As good as Kentucky may be on paper, the new-look Southeastern Conference is a towering hurdle to overcome. The league was already competitive enough, but the addition of Oklahoma and Texas somehow makes it even tougher.
The SP+ projection, a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency,” also includes No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 8 Mississippi, No. 9 LSU, No. 11 Missouri, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 16 Tennessee.
In ESPN’s preseason rankings, UK sits behind No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Missouri, No. 14 LSU, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 18 Oklahoma. The Cats’ arch-rival, Louisville, is 29th.
Preseason rankings this early in the year should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but it’s a reminder of where Kentucky typically falls in the SEC pecking order — good, but not good enough. UK, looking to improve on back-to-back 7-6 seasons, has yet to break through to the conference’s upper echelon.
The Cats’ 2024 schedule doesn’t offer many favors, either. Yes, Kentucky will get teams like Southern Miss, Ohio and Murray State, but the slate also includes games against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and the annual Governor’s Cup against Louisville. Throw in what could potentially turn out to be toss-up matchups against South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn — after all, nothing in the SEC comes easy — and Kentucky’s schedule is full of landmines.
Head coach Mark Stoops is entering his 12th season at UK, but the Cats have fashioned a winning record in league play only twice during that span.
For all of the highs that Kentucky has seen — the Cats have played in a program-record eight bowl games, Stoops sits atop the school’s all-time wins list for coaches, and numerous players have made it to the NFL — it still hasn’t emerged as a consistent threat in the SEC.
Over the last 11 seasons, UK is 0-11 against Georgia, 0-4 versus Alabama, 13-27 against the AP top 25, 2-18 against the AP top 10 and 0-9 versus the top five.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Kentucky is viewed as a team with plenty of potential, but the Cats still have the almighty SEC to contend with.
