What is Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football record after vacating 2021 wins?
The memory of Will Levis, Wan’Dale Robinson and Chris Rodriguez leading Kentucky to a dramatic win over Iowa in the 2021 Citrus Bowl is unlikely to be erased from the minds of Kentucky football fans anytime soon.
But that victory will no longer appear in the official NCAA record book.
As part of an agreement with the NCAA resulting from violations for football players being paid for hours they did not work in jobs at the university hospital, the school has vacated all 10 wins from the 2021 season, including the Citrus Bowl victory. Those wins were vacated because at least one of the 11 players found to have filed inaccurate time cards appeared in the game while ineligible to play.
UK has not publicly identified the 11 players identified to have filed inaccurate time cards, but Rodriguez was suspended for the first four games of the 2024 season while the investigation was concluded. The Herald-Leader first reported the investigation in September 2022.
In the record book at least, UK now loses one of just two 10-win seasons for the program since 1977.
The NCAA found no athletic department staffers knew or should have reasonably known about the violations, but the vacated wins still affect Mark Stoops’ record at Kentucky.
He now officially is 63-65 at Kentucky. While the vacated wins drops his official record below .500, he remains ahead of Paul “Bear” Bryant (60) for most wins in program history.
In addition to Iowa, Kentucky beat Louisiana-Monroe, Missouri, UT Chattanooga, South Carolina, Florida, LSU, Vanderbilt, New Mexico State and Louisville in 2021.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 2:39 PM.