Kentucky Wildcats

5-7 (1-7)

Week 1: September 1st vs. Western Kentucky - This game will be played in Nashville, TN at the Titans' stadium. WKU was 2-10 last year including taking a 35 drubbing from Kentucky in week 2. They've got 15 returning starters but I don't think it matters even with UK in offensive rebuilding mode. The Cats win.

Week 2: September 10th vs. Central Michigan - CMU went to four straight bowl games and then fell off the map last year going 3-9. They have 14 returning starters this year, and this could be a difficult game for Joker Philips if they are not ready to play. But one thing you can always say about Kentucky is that they always win these non-conference games. So Cats go to 2-0.

Week 3: September 17th vs. Louisville - The Cardinals are starting to regain momentum under Charlie Strong after a few down years which Kentucky took advantage of and won 4 in a row. Louisville has 10 returning starters from a 7-6 team. The good news for UK is that this game is in Lexington and the Cards only have 3 returning starters on offense. With Kentucky's experience on defense I think they matchup well in this game. Louisville lost almost 40% of their lettermen from last year and they only have 12 seniors on this team, that will be difficult to compensate for this early in the season. Kentucky gets another 3-0 start.

Week 4: September 24th at Kentucky - UK has not won this game since 1986. That is 24 straight and I don't see any reason why I would call for that streak to end here. Gators win.

Week 5: October 1st at LSU - In the last meeting between these two teams, UK won in Lexington when LSU was #1...but the Tigers survived and eventually won the national title that year. It's very possible LSU could be #1 heading into this game again, but I don't think we'll get the same result in Red Stick. LSU wins big.

Week 6: October 8th at South Carolina - Kentucky will struggle in this game, it's in Columbia and USC's D is going to be too much for an inexperienced offense to handle on the road. This will be the third very difficult matchup for UK and they will most likely be running ragged...not a good recipe for success against a good team.

Week 7: Bye - It's always good to have your bye week smack-dab in the middle of the season. And for UK, it will give them an opportunity to regroup after what is almost certainly going to be 3 straight loses.

Week 8: October 22nd vs. Jacksonville State - JSU has become the place for ex-SEC players to go when they get kicked off their team so no one should take them too lightly.... a la Ole Miss last year. Coming off a bye UK should be fresh and should win this one easily.

Week 9: October 29th vs. Mississippi State - MSU has won the last two games in Lexington in this series. If Joker Philips is able to muster a respectable offense by this point in the season it could mean trouble for the Bulldogs. UK will also be coming off a bye week and Jacksonville State...so essentially 3 weeks to prepare for this game, however, MSU is coming off a bye as well. I don't see any reason why both of these teams would have any trouble getting up for this game, so I think going on talent is a safe bet. As they have done in the past against Kentucky, I expect MSU to run, run, run, and run some more until the Cats D is worn down. And the Dawgs will pick up a vital road win.

Week 10: November 5th vs. Ole Miss - The Wilcats are hosting both schools from Mississippi in back-to-back weeks. Kentucky does not have much offensive explosiveness coming back from 2010 but Joker Philips has proven to be a good offensive coach, and he will probably be able to find some plays against a poor Ole Miss D. I think Kentucky's defense will have enough strength to hold off Ole Miss and they will win the game at home.

Week 11: November 12th at Vanderbilt - UK always plays an easy September schedule and then relies on this game to make them bowl-eligible, we'll see if they have 5 wins at this point or not. Vanderbilt matches up well against the Cats as I have UK's D-line rated the least in the SEC. If Vandy's running game can get established it could be a long day for Kentucky. This is Week 11, so Joker Philips should have been able to mold this offense a little bit, but I'm not sure they will keep up with the 'Dores in Nashville. Kentucky goes down on the road.

Week 12: November 19th at Georgia - I think this will be a pretty good game. Georgia should match up pretty well and Aaron Murrey should be able to throw for some yardage here. I'll pick Georgia at home.

Week 13: November 26th vs. Tennessee - If you thought losing 24 straight to Florida was bad, the Wildcats have managed to lose to UT 26 straight times. So, since this is a loss every year I have to say it's a loss this year.


JB