There's a long time to go before the start of the next college football season but so much has happened since the last one.

Cats Illustrated is taking a closer look at Kentucky's 2025 football opponents through the lens of what has been written about them in the spring.

Spring practice is in the books and much has been said. Portal players have been acclimated into various programs, new systems installed, and position battles continue raging.

Here, we'll mostly let the local writers who cover these teams speak for themselves, since that's where the expertise lies.

First up will be Toledo. The Cats will open the season against the Rockets after the conclusion of fall camp. Toledo is one of ten college football programs that has not has a losing record even once during the Playoff era.

But we should warn you up front, there wasn't much media coverage of Toledo in the spring. With the transfer portal taking over the sport's offseason, there isn't much incentive to provide regular progress reports on the players in your program.

Like Kentucky, Toledo went without a traditional spring game this year. According to David Briggs, also of the Blade, there was a good reason for that: The installation of new turf. UK's players won't see that this year, as the game is in Lexington.

Head coach Jason Candle said, "It was one of the better five-week blocks that we’ve had in my time here as the head coach."

Toledo returns a lot of players from last year's team, including quarterback Tucker Gleason, who cut his teeth in 2024. Gleason scored five overtime touchdowns in Toledo's bowl win against Pitt last year.

Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade recently singled out five players who stood out during the spring for the Rockets.

The most interesting player singled out by Rowland is Chip Trayanum, a running back transfer from Kentucky.

"The 5-foot-11, 227-pound Akron native could be the most important player in 2025," Rowland wrote. "The Rockets struggled to establish the run last season, derailing what had the makings of a 10-win season and another appearance in the MAC championship game. A more experienced offensive line, combined with an elusive option in the backfield, has created significant buzz.'"

Toledo's coaches are impressed with Trayanum's vision based on what he's shown so far.

As far as a potential impact from incoming players, UMass defensive line transfer Louce Julien had five sacks last season. Linebacker transfer Langston Lang has starting experience at Virginia. Offensive lineman Terrence Moore from Pitt has seen a lot of action in the ACC.

The Rockets have had a lot of continuity with head coach Jason Candle at the helm but they will be breaking in a new defensive line coach in LaTroy Lewis, who was recently an assistant defensive line coach at Michigan.

Rivals.com rated Toledo's 2025 football signing class as the best in the MAC. That has been a regular occurrence over the past decade.

Toledo will be looking to replace outgoing defensive lineman Darius Alexander, who could hear his name picked tonight in the second day of the 2025 NFL Draft.