What college football media are saying about UK in 2024
Sometimes when you lock your focus in to one program you can get tunnel vision.
National and conference experts might not know as much about your favorite team as you do, but they should be good at providing context and putting together a big picture view.
Here's what college football media are saying about Kentucky football in 2024.
College Football News
"Alright, Kentucky. Let’s start beating the really good teams, too."
Some Kentucky fans have been asking for that. Now CFN opens their 2024 preview of Kentucky football with the same admonition for Mark Stoops.
Easier said than done when the top four teams on the schedule are all legitimate College Football Playoff contenders, but that is a natural request for a program that has been to eight straight bowl games.
"The painfully belabored point? As good as the Mark Stoops era has been - if you’re 73-65 in 11 seasons with seven winning SEC campaigns, and seven winning seasons in the last eight, you’re doing something right - and to be fair, the 10-3 2018 team beat a slew of really, really strong teams to come up with the program’s first 10-win run since 1977.This year’s team might have the stuff to come up with type of years no one sees coming
"There are just four road games - ALL are brutal, though; more on that later - there’s a ton of talent on the lines, plenty of help from the transfer portal, a few excellent skill parts."
Whether there's a ton of talent on the lines, in terms of the broader context of the SEC, remains to be seen. But that's how CFN sees Kentucky: With a chance to do something big given the overall talent.
CFN claims that Kentucky's offense always defies logic and reason, and last year with the Wildcats running the fewest number of plays in the country but still creating a lot of explosives that was true.
The interesting thing about CFN's preview for Kentucky is it calls the home game against Georgia the spotlight game of the season. That's asking a lot and speaks to high expectations.
"Kentucky will finish with a winning record finishing with a trip to a restaurant-quality bowl, because that’s what Kentucky does under Mark Stoops. ...
"There are an almost guaranteed four wins built into the slate, and the Cats will find their way to winning at least two. They’ll be the underdog in all four road games and the Georgia game, so there can’t be any slips anywhere."
What constitutes a "slip" though? That's up for debate.
LINK: Kentucky College Football Preview
PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS
"It starts with a defense that has very few holes, potentially one of the better SEC units next season. Kentucky’s receiving corps remains a strength of the offense, thanks to the returns of Dane Key and Barion Brown and the addition of Ja’Mori Maclin via the transfer portal.
"The biggest question is under center: Can Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff live up to his five-star prospect billing after three seasons on the bench?"
PFF points out that Kentucky's biggest strength is that is has stars at every level of the defense and that seems like a smart call. With those inside backers, Maxwell Hairston, and Deone Walker, it's a star-studded defense with future NFL players on it.
PFF acknowledges that it's tough to evaluate Vandagriff because of such a small sample size, but it points out that in limited reps, he seemed to be better on play action than without it.
Their conclusion?
"Kentucky’s defense will likely be good enough to get the team to a bowl game. If the Wildcats want to do more than that, Brock Vandagriff will need to live up to his former five-star hype."
LINK: PFF's UK Preview
ATHLON SPORTS
While PFF situates the crux of Kentucky's season on the performance of Brock Vandagriff, Athlon's preview puts the focus more on the offensive line helping to set Vandagriff up for success with quality protection and the balance an effective run game provides. That seems like smart analysis because while the line was very improved last season Kentucky has to be more efficient and that starts with running the ball and making opponents respect the run.
Athlon doesn't say too much but does emphasize Kentucky's ability to stop the run.
They ultimately rank Kentucky the No. 38 team in the nation in the prs
LINK: Kentucky Season Football Prediction
OTHERS
Writing for The Athletic, Stewart Mandel recently provided his SEC predictions. He doesn't dive into his specific thoughts about Kentucky, but he does pick the Cats to finish 8-4 overall with a 4-4 record in league games.
LINK: Mandel's predictions for the SEC
Sports Illustrated recently also published SEC football predictions. They rank the Cats 11th in the 16-team SEC with the following blurb:
"Brock Vandagriff is the third transfer quarterback for UK in as many seasons, and this one comes with much less experience. He should have opportunities in Bush Hamdan's pro-style offense, and targets like Dane Key and Barion Brown, but the Wildcats face up to six opponents that could be ranked in the top 10 nationally this season."
It's not clear what the sixth potential top-10 team would be, with SI obviously considering Louisville a potential top-10 team at the end of the season because of its ACC schedule.
LINK: SI predictions for the league
More picks published on Sports Illustrated: Here, Kentucky is 12th.
"Brock Vandagriff is the third transfer quarterback for UK in as many seasons, and this one comes with much less experience. He should have opportunities in Bush Hamdan's pro-style offense, and targets like Dane Key and Barion Brown, but the Wildcats face up to six opponents that could be ranked in the top 10 nationally this season."
LINK: More predictions at SI
ESPN's computer model picked Kentucky to finish 12th in the league, with additional info on what it's calculations led to:
13. Kentucky. A new quarterback steps in for the Wildcats, projected to be 6.2 points better than opponents and win seven games against the 9th-toughest schedule.
LINK: ESPN computer picks
A whole team of CBS college football writers shared their picks for the SEC and the most common slotting for Kentucky in the league pecking order was 10th.
Nobody picked Kentucky to finish better than 10th in the league standings and David Cobb had UK picked lower than anyone at 12th.
This speaks to a widespread expectation that Kentucky will be a middle of the pack SEC team, better than the worst teams in the league but not as good as the best.
LINK: CBS expert picks
Doc's Sports Service covers sports betting and includes a long writeup on the SEC going into the 2024 season.
Kentucky gets the "undervalued" tag.
"Grinding out winning seasons and going to bowl games might not be sexy for some SEC programs. Yet there is no denying that Mark Stoops has done a phenomenal job at Kentucky. The Wildcats are always competitive and occasionally relevant in the top league in the country. No small feat. And with plenty of big-name programs invading the Southeast this year I expect Kentucky to get lost in the shuffle. Stoops has 18 returning starters, including 10 back on a defense that was disappointing last year and needs to improve. If UGA transfer quarterback Brock Vandagriff can reach the lofty status that his recruiting pedigree suggests, then the Wildcats could finish above .500 ATS for the fourth straight year and fifth time in the last six seasons."
LINK: Doc's Predictions