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Rowland: If we have a season, it's Kentucky's best chance to reach Atlanta

If we have a college football season -- and thanks to Kirk Herbstreit and COVID-19 we're already wondering whether we will -- this is Kentucky's best chance to reach Atlanta.

That might seem like a bold statement, but it really isn't.

First of all, let's make clear that we're talking about preseason expectations.

Otherwise, we could easily make the case for 2018.

Had Kentucky defeated Georgia, in Lexington, the Wildcats would have represented the SEC East in Atlanta.

That team with Josh Allen, a senior-dominated secondary, Benny Snell, Terry Wilson, C.J. Conrad, and others would have been the best chance for UK fans. But we know from hindsight that the 2018 team didn't make it happen. More importantly, we saw why. UGA's best game, in Lexington, was simply too much for Kentucky to overcome. Even with that 2018 team. Even with all those players.

In preseason terms, this is UK's best football team since at least the late 1970's.

Take the following into account:

- Terry Wilson is returning from an injury but is expected to be 100-percent. He is 12-3 (80-percent) as a starting quarterback.

- Even if Wilson struggles or is hurt, the chatter is the NCAA will allow a one-time universal waiver that would apply to Joey Gatewood, the quarterback who was locked in a position battle with Bo Nix, who set almost every Auburn freshman quarterback record imaginable.

- Kentucky returns its top three running backs and four offensive line starters from a unit that produced one of the nation's top rushing offenses in 2019.

- The 'Cats return exceptional depth on defense, including its best set of nose tackles, the SEC's returning sack leader (Boogie Watson), a deep linebacking corps, and almost everyone in the secondary, plus heralded transfer Kelvin Joseph and defensive lineman Phil Hoskins, who was injured last season.

- Max Duffy won the Ray Guy Award last season and returns.

- In terms of the schedule, the SEC is not daunting and while UK draws Auburn from the West, Mississippi State appears to be down.

In summary, Kentucky is one of the nation's most experienced teams, facing a manageable schedule in the league -- the league -- that gives a team more of a national "bounce" in perception more than any other.

Kentucky will be the solid or heavy favorite in all four of its out-of-conference games. The biggest "in question" game will be against Louisville, a team that the 'Cats have dominated, utterly, for two consecutive seasons.

UK has routinely beaten the teams it "should" have defeated under Mark Stoops.

The questions about the UK-UT game remain. Florida has still won more than its share against UK, even as the 'Cats have narrowed that series. And UGA is the big elephant in the room, because the Bulldogs will not be easily overcome by Kentucky, since UGA is big, physical, and tough, maybe on a greater scale than UK.

Nonetheless, all things considered -- front-line talent, depth, schedule -- the 2020 season is UK's best chance to win the East, compared to any other odds before any other season since the SEC split into divisions.

We shouldn't automatically assume that a potential season cancellation or shortening will cripple UK. After all, that could lead to the preservation of eligibility for many UK players, and in the case of a shortened season it could favor UK, a program with staff continuity.

But it's fair to say that Kentucky is better positioned for a serious run for a division championship than ever before.

COVID-19 is the No. 1 story we are all following, and for good reason. But if you're looking for a diversion, or for hope that the next year could be spectacular as a fan, then that hope is easy to find if you're a fan.

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