It's hard to get a trustworthy read on where this Kentucky football team is headed. One side of the prognosticator -- or at least this one -- wants to look at the depleted roster, the stacked division and the other obstacles and say that a big implosion is in the cards. This could be the mulligan that every coach needs within the first five years when they take over a program.
But then you look at that schedule -- three wins are basically on the board before the season even starts. Add in Vanderbilt and at least a split of the remaining winnable games on the slate, and you've got five. All the winnable games gets you to bowl eligibility; start accounting for the upsets, and you're on your way to a slightly higher perch.
It really comes down to the Ole Miss game this year. Part of me says the Rebels are a better team -- obviously, since we haven't previewed them for SEC 2011 yet. But part of me also looks at what Ole Miss faces before their trip to Lexington -- games against Alabama, Arkansas and at Auburn -- and thinks that it might not matter if Ole Miss is the better team. So for now, we'll put Kentucky in a schedule-fueled bowl once again. But it's one of the first of many predictions I'm not quite sure about three months before the season begins.
Place: 5th in the SEC East
Record: 6-6, 2-6 SEC
Could be: 4-8 to 8-4
Best chance for an upset: TENNESSEE
Bowl: BBVA Compass
9.1.11 | WESTERN KENTUCKY | WIN
9.10.11 | CENTRAL MICHIGAN | LIKELY WIN
9.17.11 | LOUISVILLE | POSSIBLE WIN
9.24.11 | FLORIDA | PROBABLE LOSS
10.1.11 | at LSU | LIKELY LOSS
10.8.11 | at SOUTH CAROLINA | PROBABLE LOSS
10.22.11 | JACKSONVILLE STATE | WIN
10.29.11 | MISSISSIPPI STATE | POSSIBLE LOSS
11.5.11 | OLE MISS | POSSIBLE WIN
11.12.11 | at VANDERBILT | POSSIBLE WIN
11.19.11 | at GEORGIA | PROBABLE LOSS
11.26.11 | TENNESSEE | POSSIBLE LOSS