New bowl projections for Kentucky now that the Cats are eligible for the postseason
Kentucky is bowl-eligible for the fourth year in a row. So, where might the Wildcats end up?
Postseason projections from national media outlets were already starting to trickle in Sunday morning — a day after the Cats defeated UT Martin for their sixth victory — and the most recent predictions are aligning with the logical assumption that the Belk and Liberty bowls will be UK’s most likely landing spots.
Both CBS Sports and 247Sports posted projections Sunday matching Kentucky with Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl, which will be played at 3:45 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in Memphis and televised on ESPN.
USA Today posted its bowl projections Tuesday, also placing UK in the Liberty Bowl, with Texas as the Wildcats’ opponent.
The Sporting News’ new projections matched Kentucky and Louisville in the Belk Bowl, which will also be played on New Year’s Eve — in Charlotte, N.C. — and televised at noon on ESPN. The Cats’ projected opponent for that one probably isn’t going to happen. UK and U of L will, of course, play Saturday to close out the regular season, and a bowl rematch between the rivals just a few weeks later seems unlikely. The projected bowl destination could happen, though.
Longtime college football reporter Brett McMurphy also placed Kentucky in the Belk Bowl — matching the Cats up with Pittsburgh — in his projections for the Stadium website Monday. On Wednesday, both Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports also updated their bowl projections and put UK in the Belk Bowl, against Virginia and Wake Forest, respectively.
‘Pool of six’ bowls
Win or lose Saturday, the Wildcats are almost certain to end up in one of the Southeastern Conference’s “pool of six” bowl games, a group that consists of the Outback, Gator, Music City, Belk, Liberty and Texas bowls.
The SEC will make assignments for those bowl games after consulting with the representatives from each bowl and the schools themselves, which rank their desired bowl scenarios in order of preference.
The Outback Bowl — in Tampa, Fla. on Jan. 1 — remains a possibility for UK, but it’s not a likely one. That’s seen as the most prestigious of the “pool of six” games — it’s the only one on New Year’s Day — and there are other teams that will be ahead of Kentucky in the pecking order for bowl placement.
The SEC’s relatively new postseason selection process is designed, in part, to keep the same teams from going to the same bowl games. The Wildcats played in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. just three years ago, so that seems an unlikely destination for this UK team.
Kentucky last played in the Music City Bowl in Nashville two years ago, and the Cats have been in that bowl game four times over the past 13 years. It’s an easy trip for UK fans to make — and a locale with a large number of Kentucky fans already living there — but the frequency that the Cats have played in that game, as well as the other attractive options this year, make a return trip to Nashville seemingly unlikely.
Both of ESPN’s bowl pickers did put Kentucky in the Music City Bowl with their latest projections, however.
UK has never played in the Texas Bowl, but that destination — Houston on Dec. 27 — would make for an unwieldy trip for Kentucky fans, and that bowl game is likely to be low on the Wildcats’ preference list as a result.
Belk and Liberty bowls
That leaves the Belk Bowl and the Liberty Bowl as the two remaining “pool of six” games. (The SEC also has agreements with the Birmingham Bowl and the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., but those games are a tier below the “pool of six” group, and there’s seemingly no chance Kentucky will fall that far. It looks more likely that the SEC won’t have enough bowl-eligible teams to even send anyone to those games).
Charlotte and Memphis would be manageable trips for UK fans — both are about a six-hour drive from Lexington — and the Wildcats don’t have any recent history with either game.
Kentucky has never played in the Belk Bowl, which was formerly known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl and Continental Tire Bowl. That game has had an SEC affiliation for the past five seasons and has ended up with five different league teams.
UK last played in the Liberty Bowl following the 2008 season.
Several national outlets also predicted the Belk or Liberty bowls for Kentucky going into Saturday’s game against UT Martin.
All bowl selections will be officially announced Dec. 8.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 12:49 PM.
