Kentucky football bowl projection roundup

After Saturday night’s loss to Mississippi State, playoff talk has ended for the Kentucky Wildcats.

The team currently sit at 6-2 and dropped six spots in this week’s AP Poll to No. 18 overall, and dropped to No. 17 in the Coaches poll. The College Football Playoff rankings will also be released on this coming Tuesday.

Even though the hopes of competing for a spot in college football’s final four this season may be over, there is still plenty to play for as Mark Stoops and his staff try to rally the troops and push to win out their remaining four games of the season. Doing so would give the program its first 10-win season since 1977. If that indeed does happen, then you can pencil the ‘Cats into one of the other four premier bowl games across the country.

Here is a quick rundown of some bowl projections from national media.

• Jerry Palm of CBS: Playstation Fiesta Bowl (State Farm Stadium; Glendale, AZ) vs Norte Dame; January 1, 2022
• Kyle Bonagura of ESPN: VRBO Citrus Bowl (Camping World Stadium; Orlando, FL) vs Iowa; January 1, 2022
• Mark Schlabach of ESPN: VRBO Citrus Bowl (Camping World Stadium; Orlando, FL) vs Minnesota; January 1, 2022
• Brad Crawford of 247 Sports: Allstate Sugar Bowl (Caesars Superdome; New Orleans, LA) vs Oklahoma State; January 1, 2022
• Ethan DeWitt of A Sea of Blue: VRBO Citrus Bowl (Camping World Stadium; Orlando,FL) vs Iowa; January 1, 2022

Across the board, all of the projected matchups are intriguing outside the Minnesota matchup.

The Iowa matchup is one that would have national media drooling as Mark Stoops plays his alma mater. But there are still two big projections that have UK looking at a New Year’s Six game.

A trip to the Sugar Bowl would bolster the level of confidence across the fanbase and program to another level, and would get a very winnable game in Oklahoma State, who would more than likely be the opponent if Oklahoma does in fact make the playoff.

Time to shake off this performance and go beat Tennessee.