Football: Kentucky's Sched A Hard One

“I saw a lot of good things from an athletic standpoint. I’m pleased with our speed on defense and our ability to close.” -- Rich Brooks

Kentucky held its first spring practice of the year, and even though head coach Rich Brooks was pleased with what he saw out of his kids, the fact is that this year, Kentucky is no longer going to be takened as an automatic win in the SEC after handling Clemson in their bowl game last year. Kentucky will have to up their goals and play harder and better if they want back to back bowl seasons.

The defense is young and fast for the most part and key players on offense are returning, Woodson, Burton, and Little, so Kentucky seems to be ready for a great season, at least the expectations have risen. It's not a far stretch to expect a New Year's Day bowl this upcoming season if they take care of business like they should.

The schedule is, well for the UK fan, spectacular because Kentucky goes on the road only 4 times [Arkansas, South Carolina, Vandy, & Georgia]. However, that means Kentucky must take care of business at home.

It could be a disastrous season if they don't give the fans at home what they are expecting of them. That means Kentucky must win against Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, Louisville, and Florida Atlantic to start off. They might be able to get away with losing to L'ville. LSU, Florida, Miss St, and Tennessee round the home sched portion for the Wildcats, so that means assuming they don't win on the road at all and start the season at 3-2 [losing to l'ville and Arkansas], they're going to have to win against LSU, Florida, Miss. St., and Tenn - all of which are at home - just to reach 7 wins on the season. That's a tough thing to do which means even though Kentucky has a heavy home schedule this season, they're still going to have to win at least two on the road among Arkansas, South Carolina, Vandy, and Georgia to reach bowl eligibility in my opinion because even though they have a lot of home games, they're going to be very tough SEC home games which makes it all the more important for fans to sell out these games.

Eight at home, four on the road. Just think if they take care of business at home, it'll be back to back bowl seasons for them. If they take care of business like how they played against Clemson in last year's bowl, this year's team is capable of 9 even maybe a 10 win season and a good chance at the SEC Title, which I'm sure sounds absurd by every 'expert' on earth.

But it should be a good season where Andre Woodson and/or Rafael Little should be or eventually will be included in the Heisman talk around the nation.

Kentucky should be that good. And I can't wait.