Both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll have been released so we've got one more early reference point when we're looking at the season ahead.
With an eye on where teams have landed in the rankings here's one take on how Kentucky's conference slate stacks up with the rest of the SEC.
1. OLE MISS
Home: (5) LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, (23) Texas A&M
Away: (4) Alabama, Auburn, (1) Georgia, Mississippi State
Ole Miss has a very challenging SEC slate. Like Kentucky and Auburn the Rebels draw both Georgia and Alabama. And since Ole Miss is in the West that means it will also take on No. 5 LSU and No. 23 Texas A&M. Aside from the home game against Vanderbilt there's not a single obvious win on the league slate. That means Lane Kiffin should find himself in a lot of very competitive football games. Since the Vanderbilt game is at home, that makes for an extra hard road game compared to Auburn. Thus, Ole Miss has the hardest schedule in the SEC.
Key Game: LSU. This is an early season game and a tone-setter in the West. LSU rolled last year against the Rebels but Ole Miss has a chance for a big home statement here. If Ole Miss wins that game it should be an upper echelon team in the West. Lose that game at home and those road games against Auburn and Mississippi State both become must-wins for a big year.
2. AUBURN
Home: (1) Georgia, (22) Ole Miss, Mississippi State, (4) Alabama
Away: (23) Texas A&M, (5) LSU, Vanderbilt, Arkansas
Auburn draws a brutal league slate in Hugh Freeze's first year in the league. Auburn, Ole Miss and Kentucky are the three schools in the conference drawing both Georgia and Alabama. Everyone will pick Auburn to lose to Georgia and Alabama although the game against the Tide shouldn't be conceded given how Auburn has played them at home over the years. The road slate is difficult as well.
Key Game: Alabama. Aim high. Auburn has played Alabama well in Tuscaloosa and Hugh Freeze has beaten Alabama twice before. If he can pull the end-of-season shocker in the Iron Bowl it could create a tremendous amount of momentum.
3. ARKANSAS
Home: Mississippi State, Auburn, Missouri
Away: (5) LSU, Ole Miss, (4) Alabama, Florida
Neutral: (23) Texas A&M
Arkansas prides itself on playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation every single year and this season is no exception thanks to a slate that will see the Hogs have to travel to play two top-five teams on the road. There's a chance for the Hogs to clean up at home and they need to because they only get three at home. They've got to play in some difficult environments.
Key Game: Florida. We could go with the Texas A&M game since it needs to be considered a home win opportunity with only three SEC games in Fayetteville, but Arkansas has never won at the Swamp and given the rest of its road slate that's its best opportunity for a win away from home and it needs to capitalize.
4. TEXAS A&M
Home: Auburn, (4) Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State
Away: (12) Tennessee, (22) Ole Miss, (5) LSU
Neutral: Arkansas
Texas A&M has the good fortune of only having three SEC games on the road this year. That's the good news. The bad news is the neutral site game against Arkansas will be tough and the road slate is brutal with three ranked foes. The Aggies will be solid favorites in three of four home games.
Key Game: Alabama. The Crimson Tide will be favored but the expectation should be that this will be a competitive game. Texas A&M is expected to finish middle of the pack in the West and this is an opportunity to surge toward the top of the league standings and make some national noise. The Aggies almost won in Tuscaloosa last year in spite of having a very disappointing season.
5. ALABAMA
Home: (22) Ole Miss, Arkansas, (12) Tennessee, (5) LSU
Away: Mississippi State, (23) Texas A&M, Kentucky, Auburn
Alabama came out pretty good in the scheduling department this year. There's not a single easy chip shot on the road, but Alabama will be favored in all of those games. They avoid having to go to Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee, the three most recent teams in the SEC to beat the Tide.
Key Game: LSU. It's a revenge game, one of the top matchups in college football, and maybe the most important game of the entire SEC slate. While Georgia is the runaway favorite to win the East, voters were fairly split between Alabama and LSU in picking a West champ. If Saban loses to Brian Kelly twice in a row folks won't just be talking about Georgia passing up Alabama. It could signal a slip in the West.
6. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Home: (5) LSU, (4) Alabama, Kentucky, (22) Ole Miss
Away: South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn, (23) Texas A&M
Talk about a brutal home slate. Mississippi State needs to be excellent on the road and probably needs to hold court against Kentucky and Ole Miss at home or it could be difficult first year for Zach Arnett. It's not like the Bulldogs have an easy road slate to balance out the home slate. They have to play is some very big, loud stadiums when they go on the road, even if those teams aren't in the preseason top-20.
7. KENTUCKY
Home: Florida, Missouri, (12) Tennessee, (4) Alabama
Away: Vanderbilt, (1) Georgia, Mississippi State, South Carolina
Kentucky, Ole Miss and Auburn are the three teams in the league to draw both Alabama and Georgia. The good news for Kentucky is neither the home slate or the away slate seems to be impossibly hard. It's not unfathomable to imagine Kentucky winning three of four games at home and/or three of four games on the road. Still, drawing arguably three of the top four teams in the league isn't easy at all and down the stretch this schedule is about as tough as it gets.
Key Game: Tennessee. This game has given Kentucky fans nightmares over the years but it should be considered an opportunity for a season-defining win especially in Lexington. Given that Kentucky faces UGA and Alabama, this is the program's best opportunity for a win that would turn heads across the country. If UK can win this game later in the year it's also a good sign for where the team is at during a pivotal stretch.
8. SOUTH CAROLINA
Home: Mississippi State, Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Away: (1) Georgia, (12) Tennessee, Missouri, (23) Texas A&M
There's good news and bad news for Shane Beamer in 2023 when it comes to the schedule. The good news is the Gamecocks don't have to face a single ranked team at home. That's a big opportunity. The bad news is the road slate is about as tough as it gets. While USC may or may not be favored against Mizzou when that game rolls around on the calendar it's safe to say they will be underdogs in three of four games on the road. If USC steals one of those road games against a ranked team they could make a lot of noise.
Key Game: Mississippi State. That might seem to be an odd choice, but consider South Carolina's first month of the season. The Gamecocks get UNC and UGA two of the first three weeks of the year, leading up to Mississippi State at home. They're likely to already have one loss and possibly two. That's a game USC really needs to win at home.
9. TENNESSEE
Home: South Carolina, (23) Texas A&M, (1) Georgia, Vanderbilt
Away: Florida, (4) Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri
Josh Heupel has a challenging but manageable schedule. For Tennessee to have the kind of season its fans are hoping after last year's 11-2 season the home game against Texas A&M and those road games outside of the Alabama contest are obviously big. Tennessee should finish at least 2-2 in its home games and there are three road games against unranked opponents.
10. LSU
Home: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, (23) Texas A&M
Away: Mississippi State, (22) Ole Miss, Missouri, (4) Alabama
LSU will be favored in every one of its SEC games held at Death Valley. That doesn't mean it will be an easy 4-0 at home, but that's probably how the oddsmakers will view it. LSU may also be favored in three of four away games, but it's still a challenging road slate.
Key Game: Alabama. If LSU is going to win a national championship then its best path is winning the West and running the table in the regular season so it can absorb a potential loss to UGA in the SEC Championship Game, although the Tigers could be good enough to win in Atlanta. We saw LSU capable of beating the Tide last year. Why not again?
11. FLORIDA
Home: (12) Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas
Away: Kentucky, South Carolina, (5) LSU, Missouri
Neutral: (1) Georgia
This is a strong schedule but not a gauntlet by SEC standards. The Gators will be underdogs in at least one game at home, one game on the road, and the neutral site game against Georgia. It's important for Florida to beat Vanderbilt and Arkansas at home since the Gators only get three SEC games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Key Game: Tennessee. This is a series that has been traditionally dominated by the Gators, but with Billy Napier still rebuilding and the season the Vols had last year it feels different for the first time in a long while. Win this game early it could be a signature win opportunity. If Graham Mertz can beat Tennessee at home then more is on the table than we realized.
12. MISSOURI
Home: (5) LSU, South Carolina, (12) Tennessee, Florida
Away: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, (1) Georgia, Arkansas
Missouri will be very tested because its SEC West draws are end-of-season rival Arkansas and No. 5 LSU. If there's a reason for Missouri fans to take heart it's the fact that three of its four road games should at least be opportunities to be competitive. If a team can win on the road it can stack conference wins quickly especially since they don't have a home slate bogged down with a brutal game against UGA or Bama.
Key Game: Kentucky. This series has haunted Missouri fans for most of the last decade. The games against South Carolina and Florida are important to win at home, but in terms of the overall SEC East pecking order and making a bigger statement, Kentucky's yet again a big game for the Tigers.
13. VANDERBILT
Home: Kentucky, Missouri, (1) Georgia, Auburn
Away: Florida, (22) Ole Miss, South Carolina, (12) Tennessee
Vanderbilt's draws in the SEC West are Auburn (home) and Ole Miss (road). That could be worse. Missing both Alabama and LSU helps anybody. The road schedule is challenging but this is one of the easier schedules so far as SEC schedules go.
Key Game: Florida. You could go a number of directions here, but this could be one of Vanderbilt's best chances to make an interesting game in the Swamp in a while. Vanderbilt beat the Gators late last season and this one is early enough in the year that it would help them build some momentum.
14. GEORGIA
Home: South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, (22) Ole Miss
Away: Auburn, Vanderbilt, (12) Tennessee
Neutral: Florida
One of the reasons Georgia may have the best chance to win a national championship, a potential third straight, is the schedule. There's not a marquee out of conference opponent and Georgia may also have the easiest schedule in the SEC. Going to Neyland Stadium will be interesting but there aren't any games against top-10 opponents and UGA will be fairly heavy favorites in at least three of its four games away from Athens.
Key Game: Tennessee. Almost by default, because where else are the Bulldogs going to lose? Because it's on the road and the Vols showed they could beat a good team there last year in Alabama, that's what we have to go with.
