After a huge upset win over No. 9 Texas A&M on Saturday, Kentucky Football now has a legitimate opportunity to go bowling in Year 1 under new head coach Will Stein.
The Wildcats defeated the Aggies 31-21, giving Kentucky a major boost heading into the second half of the season.
Many Kentucky fans entered the season with modest expectations, especially after the Wildcats went 4-8 in 2024 and 5-7 in 2025 under former head coach Mark Stoops. The schedule also looked more difficult this season after the SEC
moved to a nine-game conference schedule, forcing Kentucky to drop one of its nonconference games and add a tougher opponent.
Before the season, expectations varied among fans. Some predicted Kentucky would finish 4-8 or 5-7, while others believed Stein could lead the Wildcats to six or more wins and a bowl berth.
I had Kentucky projected to reach six wins and become bowl eligible before the season began. Following the upset of Texas A&M, the Wildcats now have a chance to surpass that projection.
Here is Kentucky’s remaining schedule:
- South Alabama (Home)
- South Carolina (Away)
- LSU (Home)
- Oklahoma (Away)
- Vanderbilt (Home)
- Tennessee (Away)
- Florida (Home)
- Missouri (Away)
- Louisville (Home)
The remaining schedule is challenging, but Kentucky still has a realistic path to six wins.
South Alabama should provide Kentucky with an opportunity to pick up its third win of the season. The Wildcats would then travel to South Carolina, which has struggled at times this season. A win would give Stein his fourth victory and would be especially significant if Kentucky can snap a four-game losing streak to the Gamecocks.
A victory at South Carolina would also give Kentucky and quarterback Kenny Minchey additional confidence heading into a difficult stretch of the schedule.
Kentucky would then face LSU at home. The Tigers have more overall talent, making that a difficult matchup for the Wildcats. From there, Kentucky would travel to Oklahoma for another challenging road game.
That would put Kentucky at 4-3 in this projected scenario.
The Wildcats would then host Vanderbilt. With the Commodores moving forward without Diego Pavia, Kentucky could have an opportunity to earn its fifth victory and move within one win of bowl eligibility with four games remaining.
After a bye week, Kentucky would travel to Tennessee. The Volunteers have dominated the rivalry since Kentucky’s 2020 victory, and ending that streak would be a significant challenge for Stein and the Wildcats.
That leaves a three-game stretch against Florida, Missouri and Louisville to close the regular season.
Kentucky could potentially win all three, split the games or lose all three. However, after the statement victory over Texas A&M, the Wildcats have put themselves in position to need only one win from those final three games to reach bowl eligibility.
If Kentucky can get to six wins, Stein would lead the Wildcats to a bowl game in his first season as head coach.
Kentucky has not reached a bowl since 2023 and has not won a bowl game since 2020. The Wildcats’ 2021 Citrus Bowl victory over Iowa was later vacated.
For a program coming off consecutive losing seasons, simply reaching bowl eligibility would give Stein an opportunity to establish early momentum in his tenure.
