After dominant showing vs. Florida, is Kentucky a threat to Georgia in SEC East?
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Game day: Kentucky 33, No. 22 Florida 14
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Florida football game at Kroger Field.
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Kentucky football moved to 5-0 on the 2023 season with a 33-14 win over Florida. The Wildcats have now faced their first significant test of the season and should be ranked in the top 25 heading into a game at No. 1 Georgia next week.
Here is a closer look at what the victory means beyond the scoreboard:
Kentucky has to be considered a factor in SEC East now
Whether Florida ends up closer to the team that was ranked in the top 25 this week or the one that was picked to finish fifth in the SEC East in July remains to be seen, but Florida’s upset of Tennessee earlier this month has already thrown the race to challenge No. 1 Georgia in the SEC East into disarray.
Kentucky beating Florida does not ensure the Wildcats will be Georgia’s biggest competitor, but it certainly increases the hype for the matchup in Athens next week. The fact that Kentucky jumped out to a 23-0 lead behind a dominant Ray Davis first half against what had been one of the better rushing defenses in the country means confidence should be high. Georgia looked vulnerable in its first two SEC games against South Carolina and Auburn, but Kentucky has scored more than 13 points in a game against Georgia just once in the last six meetings.
Even with a loss at Georgia next week, the Florida win means Kentucky could position itself for a possible New Year’s Six bowl game if it takes care of business against the rest of the division. It was difficult to get too excited about Kentucky’s 4-0 start given the team’s inconsistent play and subpar quality of competition, but beating Florida means it’s time to dream of a special season.
A new era in the Kentucky-Florida series
Kentucky has won three consecutive games against Florida for the first time since winning four in a row from 1948 to 1951. The Wildcats have won four of the last six meetings since snapping their 31-game losing streak to Florida in 2018.
This has been Kentucky’s most successful stretch in the series since winning nine of the first 11 meetings between the two programs from 1917 to 1951. Kentucky was just 8-49 against Florida from 1952 to 2017.
With the SEC abandoning divisions starting next season Kentucky will no longer play Florida every season, but in the new era of SEC football Mark Stoops’ program will need to prove it can close the gap with other programs that have historically dominated Kentucky.
Kentucky should return to the top 25 Sunday
Associated Press top 25 voters were understandably skeptical of Kentucky’s 4-0 start, given the quality of competition faced to date, but beating No. 22 Florida in convincing fashion should be enough to catapult Kentucky into the poll Sunday.
The Wildcats were already second among the teams in the “also receiving votes category” this week. There are other undefeated teams in that category that deserve consideration for the top 25, including Louisville, but it should be a no-brainer to at least swap Kentucky and Florida in the poll.
Kentucky was last ranked in the top 25 on Oct. 24, 2022. If UK returns to the poll Sunday, it will mark four consecutive seasons the Wildcats were ranked at least once.
UK has now won six of its last nine games against ranked opponents. Each of the four wins over Florida since 2018 came with the Gators ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game.
This story was originally published September 30, 2023 at 3:29 PM.
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