With Kentucky preparing to face rival Louisville in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Kroger Field, fans are starting to wonder if the Governor's Cup game will be their last chance to see Will Levis in a UK uniform.
The Wildcats' star quarterback continues to be projected as a first-round NFL Draft pick, and many analysts believe he's still got a chance to be the top signal-caller taken.
If those scouting reports are accurate, would Levis risk playing in Kentucky's bowl game? He was asked about the situation after Tuesday's practice at the Joe Craft Football Training Center.
"A win is very important to us to get to a higher-echelon bowl game that we know we're capable of achieving," Levis said of the 6-5 Wildcats, which prompted the big question.
"I don't know," he said. "It's something that I haven't even thought about. I want to get through the season, then sit down with my family and talk to coach (Mark) Stoops about all that. I know people are wondering about that, but I really have no idea. I haven't paid too much mind to it."
Levis has played in 10 of UK's 11 games this season. He has completed 66% of his passes for 2218 yards and 17 touchdowns.
In last year's Governor's Cup game against Louisville, Levis passed for 149 yards and rushed for 113 yards and four touchdowns in a 52-21 rout of the Cardinals.
It's clear that, if this is his final game for the Cats, he wants another opportunity to "throw the L's down" a few more times.
"We had a nice little motivational video during the team meeting on Monday," Levis said. "Videos of things throughout the years of different things that have happened in this game and what it means to our team."
He also acknowledged that those videos will be a motivator for the Cardinals, and the Cats will have to be ready to match the intensity that the visitors bring on Saturday.
Levis got a kick out of watching videos showing some of the "chippiness" that has surrounded the game in the past. In his view, that's part of what makes a rivalry fun.
It did not take him long to learn how heated the rivalary was after transferring from Penn State in the summer of 2021.
"Right away," Levis said with a laugh. "It was mostly the fans, I think, in the off-season... just chopping it up, and (they'd say) 'Better beat Louisville this year. You gotta beat Louisville, you know.' It was cool to realize how much it meant to the fans and how much it means to us."
The holiday week has him reflecting on his short but memorable time in Lexington.
"I was thinking, in this time of Thanksgiving, about the things I'm thankful for," Levis said. "One of the first things I think about is just this community here. The people here. The coaching staff for believing in me here. The team for rallying around me, trusting in me to be their guy, their leader. The community for just welcoming me with open arms.
"It could have gone very differently when you enter that transfer portal. If it weren't for Kentucky, who knows where I'd be or what the future would look like for me. So, I mean, it's crazy to think how different my life was a couple of years ago compared to now, and I'm very thankful for all the people who have helped me get to where I am."
