Assessing UK football’s bowl performance: On one list, Cats are No. 1
Two seasons ago, Benny Snell and Josh Allen led Kentucky to an epic victory over Penn State in the VRBO Citrus Bowl.
This past year, Lynn Bowden engineered a thrilling come-from-behind win over Virginia Tech for Mark Stoops’ troops in the Belk Bowl.
As a result of Kentucky’s past two postseason victories, UK (10-9) again has an all-time winning record in bowl games.
A reader, David Thomas of Jackson, Tenn., recently sent along an email detailing how Kentucky football’s bowl history compares to some other schools traditionally more known for gridiron prowess than UK.
Thomas noted that Kentucky’s all-time record in postseason football games holds up well in comparison with schools such as Wisconsin (16-15), Michigan State (13-16) and Arizona (9-10-1).
The email made me curious about how Kentucky’s level of bowl success stacks up against its peers, both in the Southeastern Conference and out.
As you will see, UK’s bowl history generates the proverbial “glass half full/glass half empty” perspective.
Glass half full: Among the 14 Southeastern Conference schools, Kentucky is one of nine that currently has a winning all-time record in bowl games.
Only Arkansas (15-24-3 all-time in bowls, 6-9 since joining the SEC in 1992), Missouri (15-18, 2-2 since joining the SEC in 2012), South Carolina (9-14, but 10-5 since joining the SEC in 1992), Texas A&M (19-22, but 5-3 since joining the SEC in 2012) and Vanderbilt (4-4-1) do not have all-time winning records in bowls.
Glass half empty: Of the nine SEC teams with winning all-time bowl records, Kentucky, with 10, has the fewest postseason victories.
Alabama (42-26-3), Georgia (32-21-3), Tennessee (29-24), LSU (28-23-1), Mississippi (24-13), Auburn (24-18-2) and Florida (24-21) all have in excess of 20 bowl wins. Mississippi State (13-10) has three more all-time postseason victories than UK.
Glass half full: In the 21st century (which I am defining as having started with the 2000 regular season), 10 of the 14 SEC football programs have winning records in postseason games — and Kentucky (5-4 in 21st century bowl appearances) is one of them.
Only Arkansas (5-7 in 21st century bowl contests), Missouri (6-6), Texas A&M (7-9) and Vandy (3-3) do not have winning bowl marks in the 2000s.
Glass half empty: Of the 10 SEC programs with winning bowl records in the 21st century, Kentucky (5-4) has the lowest postseason winning percentage.
Alabama (14-7), Georgia (14-7), LSU (14-7), Florida (11-6) and Auburn (10-6) have already entered double digits in 21st century postseason wins. South Carolina (9-5), Mississippi State (8-4), Mississippi (7-2) and Tennessee (7-5) also have better bowl marks so far in the 2000s than UK.
A different peer group
Measured against the postseason football history of other traditionally elite “basketball schools,” Kentucky football’s all-time bowl ledger looks pretty good.
Glass all full: Among the seven most historically elite hoops powers, Kentucky (10-9) has the only all-time winning mark in football bowl games.
Louisville (11-11-1) and Kansas (6-6) are at .500 all-time in bowl games. Indiana (3-9), Duke (6-8), North Carolina (15-19) and UCLA (16-19-1) all have all-time losing records in the football postseason.
Glass still mostly full: In 21st century football bowl games, Kentucky (5-4) is one of only two of the historically elite basketball schools with a winning record in the pigskin postseason.
Surprisingly, football-challenged Kansas (3-1) is the other.
Louisville (8-8) and Duke (3-3) have broken even in 21st century bowl games.
North Carolina (4-7) and UCLA (5-9) have losing records in the postseason so far in the 2000s.
Then there is poor, poor Indiana.
After blowing a 22-9 fourth-quarter lead in what became a 23-22 loss to Tennessee in this past season’s Gator Bowl, the Hoosiers (0-4) are still looking for their first postseason victory of the 21st century.
IU has not won a bowl game since whitewashing Baylor 24-0 in the 1991 Copper Bowl in Tucson, Ariz.
Glass half empty: Kentucky’s nine 21st century bowl games is only the fourth most among the seven historic hoops powers.
Louisville (16 bowl games since 2000), UCLA (14) and North Carolina (11) are ahead of UK, while Duke (six), Kansas (four) and IU (four) are behind.
Having led Kentucky to bowl games in four straight seasons, Stoops seems to be elevating the Wildcats program to the point where postseason trips will be an annual event.
Assuming there is a 2020 college football season (and that feels more likely than it did even a week ago), a UK team featuring a veteran, physical offensive line and what, on paper, shapes up as one of the better defenses in school history should allow Stoops and Co. to tie the Kentucky all-time record (set in 2006-10) with a fifth consecutive bowl trip.
In the meantime, having the best bowl winning percentage among the football programs that represent elite basketball schools is at least something.
