Kentucky had no shortage of big wins during the 2018 football campaign, from several significant September victories to a dramatic win at Missouri and the Citrus Bowl against Penn State.
As part of a new Postseason Roundtable series, Cats Illustrated writers and contributors chime in on a number of topics to recap what we witnessed over the last several months.
What was Kentucky's biggest win during the football season that just passed?
Travis Graf, Special Contributor: The Citrus Bowl victory. I went back and forth between the Penn State game and the Florida game. Beating Penn State in a New Year’s Day bowl solidified to recruits and to national media that Kentucky is no longer the “Kentucky of old”. That win caught the eyes of young high school talent who will be choosing a school in the next few years, as well as the Cats’ opposing coaches, who will have to circle Kentucky on their schedules for the foreseeable future.
Warren Taylor, Staff Writer: The Florida win. Without it, I don't think the media or the fans buy into the team like they did as the season wore on. The Gators were the biggest prize Coach Stoops' team could slay this season and by doing so they served a loud wake-up call to even the most ardent of skeptics that the 2018 season had the potential to be special.
Justin Rowland, Publisher: While I could see either of the above answers, I'm going with the Florida game as well. Had Kentucky lost to Penn State they wouldn't have finished with 10 wins and it would have marked a third straight bowl loss for Mark Stoops.
But that Florida game was just so important. The streak had become such an albatross for Kentucky football, and it was really the last vestige of a bad losing streak culture that had plagued the program for so long. Couple that with the fact that it was one of Kentucky's two best wins in terms of quality of opponent, along with Penn State, and an SEC road victory at that, and that's my choice.