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When you hear “The University of Kentucky,” the first thought to usually crosses your mind would be basketball.
Recently, however, their football team has slowly been progressing towards a team worthy of other top programs’ respect. Over the past two seasons, Kentucky has been selected to play in a bowl game at the end of their regular season.
Although head coach Mark Stoops and the team did lose both games (Georgia Tech 2016, Northwestern 2017), the Wildcats brought a strong will to win and a fanbase that travels like no other with them both years.
After initially believing that Kentucky wouldn’t make it to a bowl game, ESPN analyst Mitch Sherman quickly changed his mind. After Kentucky’s Week 1 defeat of Central Michigan, Sherman is now predicting that the Wildcats will be matched up against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for a rematch of the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl. He predicts they will be picked to play in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl held at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.
It’s very well known that BBN travels better than any other college fanbase there is, but Louisiana would be a long haul for many fans. If Kentucky were to be chosen for this bowl, game we could see a decline in the amount of Kentucky blue in the crowd.
It’s already been hard enough for the team to sell tickets to home games in Lexington. The team could try to pitch the game as the rematch they’ve been waiting for, but imagine trying to sell the fans on driving down to the bayou. Although, with this team’s history, any bowl game they get chosen to be in would be a great chance to play in the postseason.
You can go here for the full list of bowl projections for Week 2.