For the first time under Stoops, UK beat U of L at home. Will it impact Cats’ bowl?
Kentucky’s 45-13 victory over Louisville on Saturday gave it a final regular-season record of 7-5 and its second straight win over the Cardinals in their annual bout for the Governor’s Cup.
Let’s take a look at what else the outcome means, beyond the scoreboard.
Better bowl?
A Kentucky team with a 7-5 record is, objectively, better than a Kentucky team with a 6-6 record. The win might have had no impact on its pecking order among bowl-eligible Southeastern Conference teams, though.
Assuming three SEC teams (Alabama, Georgia, LSU) are invited to the College Football Playoff and/or New Year’s Six bowls, that’d leave Florida as the most logical Citrus Bowl invitee. The Wildcats are among four other teams — Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M — most likely to be selected for the SEC’s “Pool of Six” bowls — the Belk Bowl, Gator Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Music City Bowl, Outback Bowl and Texas Bowl.
Whoever looked better in a probable loss on Saturday between Auburn (hosting Alabama in the Iron Bowl) and Texas A&M (at LSU) could be in line for a trip to the Outback Bowl, the perceived best bowl among the pool of six. The other will likely head to the Gator Bowl — unless Tennessee is thought to be a better option.
UK’s loss to Tennessee, along with the stronger brand awareness associated with the Volunteers, probably puts UT (which would also finish 7-5 if it beat Vanderbilt later Saturday) ahead of the Wildcats. Tennessee’s two-year absence from the bowl picture also makes it attractive.
One thing Saturday’s outcome probably locked into place was Kentucky being more attractive than Mississippi State, which defeated it in the regular season and became bowl eligible Thursday in part thanks to a late celebration penalty. A loss might not have mattered, but it wouldn’t have helped the Cats’ perception.
One of the Belk, Music City, Liberty or Texas bowls will probably not be able to field an SEC team due to unavailability of teams (if four SEC teams are selected for New Year’s Six bowls — which isn’t likely but could happen — two of the four would be left at the altar). Unless Texas A&M volunteered to play in the Texas Bowl, which is in Houston, its status as a geographic outlier for the rest of the conference would seemingly make it the most likely to be left out of the picture.
Winning big
UK will finish with a winning record, regardless of what happens in its bowl game, for the fourth straight season. In the greater context of Kentucky football, that matters a great deal.
Kentucky will end above .500 for the 47th time overall in 104 seasons played, according to records from College Football Reference. It will be UK’s 10th winning season since 1992, when the Southeastern Conference championship game was first held, and only the 16th winning record since 1970.
The Wildcats finished with a winning record each year from 1946 to 1956, the longest stretch in school history. Since then, Kentucky has only one other time built a streak of winning records that lasted longer than two seasons: from 2006-2009 under Rich Brooks.
Recruiting advantage
Kentucky doesn’t produce as much high-level football talent as surrounding states, so every little bit matters when it comes to keeping home-grown talent within the state.
If a kid is being recruited by Alabama and wants to go there, it’s not going to be easy for Kentucky or Louisville to pry him loose. But, for the kid that’s deciding between the Cards and Cats, being able to sell a win over the other doesn’t hurt — particularly when it comes to recruits in Louisville, which tends to produce more players than other parts of the state.
Home at last
Before Saturday, most of Kentucky’s players were in elementary school the last time it beat Louisville in Lexington.
UK’s last home win over the Cardinals happened in 2009, a 31-27 decision in Brooks’ final season at the helm. Back then the game was played during the first month of the season; UK was 0-2 at home since it became a November affair beginning in 2014.
3-4
Stoops improved to 3-4 overall against Louisville in his time as head coach, and won consecutive games in the series for the first time in his tenure.
He was four years into his tenure before getting a win over the Cardinals. U of L is in a better situation than Kentucky was when Stoops arrived, but it still would have been a rough look for a first-year guy to walk into Kroger Field and get a win.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 3:05 PM.
