It's a difficult time of year to talk about sports. Aside from recruiting, not much is going on.

Football practices haven't started. It's the middle of college basketball's offseason.

But before long football will get cranked up.

While reserving the right to change these predictions before the season based on roster alterations, injuries, or news, here are my initial predictions for UK's 2020 schedule.

9/3/20: Kentucky 31 (1-0, 0-0), Eastern Michigan 17

Games like this against mid-major programs have become reliable wins during the Mark Stoops era. The games aren't always pretty. Sometimes there's doubt for a while. But the overall roster depth, physicality of the team, and ability to establish and sustain the run will wear another scrappy Eagles team down. EMU's defense will put up some resistance for a while but there's no enough offense for the 'Cats to be on upset watch.

9/12/20: Florida 27, Kentucky 24 (1-1, 0-1)

The last time Kentucky was here the Wildcats controlled the trenches and won 27-16. This will be another close game, as they typically now are between the Wildcats and Gators. Florida will be improved in the trenches and Kyle Trask will pose one of the biggest challenges Kentucky will see all year in terms of the passing attack. UF will probably be a 7-10 point home favorite by the Vegas betting lines so I will call for UK to cover but if forced to choose - as I'm forcing myself to here - I'll give the home team and one of the East's two favorites a slight advantage.

9/19/20: Kentucky 38 (2-1, 0-1), Kent State 17

The Wildcats will have to be ready for quarterback Dustin Crum but the Golden Flashes simply do not have enough around him to mount a serious bid for a win in Lexington. Kentucky rushes for 300 yards and wins a game that is never in doubt.

9/26/20: Kentucky 28 (3-1, 1-1), South Carolina 17

I suspect this will be Will Muschamp's farewell tour in Columbia. Kentucky is the better team on paper and the game is in Lexington where the Gamecocks have not had a lot of success in recent years. UK controls the lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and grinds out a game that is one or two scores in the Cats' favor most of the contest.

10/3/20: Kentucky 21 (4-1, 2-1), Auburn 20

A lot of folks won't give Kentucky much of a chance going into Auburn but those paying attention know the talent gap isn't all that significant. The major hurdle will be winning on the road. Here are two programs that are content playing low scoring defensive slugfests. UK's secondary keeps Bo Nix and company in check and gets a Top-20 road win after losing at Florida.

10/10/20: Kentucky 52 (5-1, 2-1), Eastern Illinois 10

It's a major disappointment when any SEC team has to even survive a nailbiter against an FCS program. Kentucky should roll convincingly here.

10/17/20: Kentucky 34 (6-1, 3-1), Vanderbilt 20

It's a tough year to be Derek Mason. With so much riding on the outcome of this season the Commodores have an awful lot of questions to answer. Kentucky has asserted dominance in this series of late. Expect that to continue.

10/24/20: Kentucky 27 (7-1, 4-1), Missouri 20

Winning on the road in the Southeastern Conference should never be taken for granted but this is a game the 'Cats have won five years in a row, which includes two straight wins in Columbia. Eliah Drinkwitz has some pieces to work with in his first year but he's at an overall disadvantage compared to the team Stoops will bring to Faurot Field. There will be moments in this game when Kentucky fans are wondering if a 6-1 start is being squandered but in the end the line play is decisive and Mizzou's offense stalls out.

11/7/20: Tennessee 28, Kentucky 17 (7-2, 4-2)

This is an attempt at objective analysis so it would be tough to pick Kentucky in Knoxville knowing the history of the series. This is not a lopsided match up on paper but the 'Cats have to earn a win here before I pick one.

11/14/20: Kentucky 35 (8-2, 5-2), Mississippi State 34

Mike Leach inherits a Bulldog program that didn't have much of a defense a year ago. That's the big question for MSU entering 2020 as well. But Leach has plenty of reasons to be excited about his offense with KJ Costello and Kylin Hill ready to do a lot of damage in the league. In the most dramatic game of the season, a back and forth affair, Kentucky edges out Mississippi State to avenge last year's loss in Starkville.

11/21/20: Georgia 30, Kentucky 17 (8-3, 5-3)

This has been a tough matchup for Kentucky in recent years, perhaps because it's strength-on-strength. UGA could have the best defense in college football this year. That will make it very tough for UK to score enough points to pull an upset. Kirby Smart stays flawless in this series.

11/28/20: Kentucky 30 (9-3, 5-3), Louisville 27

This game will be much closer than it was either of the last two seasons. Kentucky has the line superiority. Louisville's offense and skill position players will find more traction than they could last year at Kroger Field. But it will be at least one more year of the Governor's Cup going to the Wildcats because the team that establishes ground superiority typically wins here.