This game tomorrow has all of a sudden gotten pretty important. A UK win would do a lot for us.
First, the obvious, we recruit against Auburn and they have a program that is teetering on the edge of disaster right now. Malzahn's offense has looked like crap his last 15 games and the fans are very restless. It will be at least 2 years before Muschamp has the talent to do much with the defense, so that hire has totally gone south. Got a $10mm year coaching staff, most of whom are on contracts. School can't afford to make changes. They lose to UK tomorrow and they likely finish the season 4-8. Their remaining schedule is brutal. Don't appear to have much talent coming in or on the roster as underclassmen right now. It is impacting recruiting. No momentum there. Kids aren't excited ab them. UGA and Bama are really more or less each down to their last 7-8 open spots in this class and 6-7 of those for each team are going to be filled by fairly obvious strong leans. With USC out and UF not really in with anybody good, we can become the obvious choice for a lot of good players who in any other year might have ended up at AU by signing day.
But more immediately, ol' UK has quietly managed to go 4-1 so far this year. They are ranked roughly 31-32 in the polls today. They play MSU after Auburn and they can win that game.... So if they can knock off Auburn tomorrow, it is possible that by Halloween, they are 6-1, ranked, tied for first in the East and the talk of the entire conference, and have us coming into their place.
We play well against Bama and keep our momentum going, and that UK game turns out to actually be pretty big. Won't get on CBS, but other than UGA/UF it will be the biggest conference game that day (Bama and LSU are off).
That will be a whole week of national hype (Kentucky ranked and tied for first place, assuming LSU beats UF this week, and even controlling their own destiny that night if UGA beats UF earlier in the day!...in football), another ranked opponent to play for us, tons of national attention...... and then a lot of credit given should we beat them, as we will.....and then go take care of business against USC the next week to get back above .500
If the UK game can set up right for us, that will be another big win to get us right back on top of people's minds as the up and coming team. Another ranked foe beaten for Butch. Missouri still has a shot of coming into our game as a 7-8 win team. So that could be another respected win.
As we all jockey for position to get a Capital One, Outback Bowl or even Cotton Bowl berths at the end of the year (remember, no Peach this year) that UK win, if it was a big one at the time, might turn out to have been a huge help-momentum wise. If Florida can lose to LSU, FSU and UGA then they aren't so hot by Thanksgiving. Ole Miss could still end up being a 3-4 loss team and if one was the Egg Bowl then they are cold. LSU, BAMA and UGA will take the top spots, but they all kind of have to go where they have to go due to contracts.
We could all of a sudden become the first or second best available SEC team for the other bowls to pick from assuming UGA goes to Cap One and at least one of Bama/LSU is in the playoff. Yes the Belk bowl is convenient, but I like the sound of having been to two straight New Year's Day bowls more. And we probably won't get a good Power 5 opponent in the Belk that we get a lot of credit over the offseason for beating.
I'm cheering for UK the next two weeks. Bama doesn't have to be our last "big" game.
First, the obvious, we recruit against Auburn and they have a program that is teetering on the edge of disaster right now. Malzahn's offense has looked like crap his last 15 games and the fans are very restless. It will be at least 2 years before Muschamp has the talent to do much with the defense, so that hire has totally gone south. Got a $10mm year coaching staff, most of whom are on contracts. School can't afford to make changes. They lose to UK tomorrow and they likely finish the season 4-8. Their remaining schedule is brutal. Don't appear to have much talent coming in or on the roster as underclassmen right now. It is impacting recruiting. No momentum there. Kids aren't excited ab them. UGA and Bama are really more or less each down to their last 7-8 open spots in this class and 6-7 of those for each team are going to be filled by fairly obvious strong leans. With USC out and UF not really in with anybody good, we can become the obvious choice for a lot of good players who in any other year might have ended up at AU by signing day.
But more immediately, ol' UK has quietly managed to go 4-1 so far this year. They are ranked roughly 31-32 in the polls today. They play MSU after Auburn and they can win that game.... So if they can knock off Auburn tomorrow, it is possible that by Halloween, they are 6-1, ranked, tied for first in the East and the talk of the entire conference, and have us coming into their place.
We play well against Bama and keep our momentum going, and that UK game turns out to actually be pretty big. Won't get on CBS, but other than UGA/UF it will be the biggest conference game that day (Bama and LSU are off).
That will be a whole week of national hype (Kentucky ranked and tied for first place, assuming LSU beats UF this week, and even controlling their own destiny that night if UGA beats UF earlier in the day!...in football), another ranked opponent to play for us, tons of national attention...... and then a lot of credit given should we beat them, as we will.....and then go take care of business against USC the next week to get back above .500
If the UK game can set up right for us, that will be another big win to get us right back on top of people's minds as the up and coming team. Another ranked foe beaten for Butch. Missouri still has a shot of coming into our game as a 7-8 win team. So that could be another respected win.
As we all jockey for position to get a Capital One, Outback Bowl or even Cotton Bowl berths at the end of the year (remember, no Peach this year) that UK win, if it was a big one at the time, might turn out to have been a huge help-momentum wise. If Florida can lose to LSU, FSU and UGA then they aren't so hot by Thanksgiving. Ole Miss could still end up being a 3-4 loss team and if one was the Egg Bowl then they are cold. LSU, BAMA and UGA will take the top spots, but they all kind of have to go where they have to go due to contracts.
We could all of a sudden become the first or second best available SEC team for the other bowls to pick from assuming UGA goes to Cap One and at least one of Bama/LSU is in the playoff. Yes the Belk bowl is convenient, but I like the sound of having been to two straight New Year's Day bowls more. And we probably won't get a good Power 5 opponent in the Belk that we get a lot of credit over the offseason for beating.
I'm cheering for UK the next two weeks. Bama doesn't have to be our last "big" game.
