Best Schedule Ever

[T75]

Yessiree, the 2016 schedule sends us to a GOOD bowl--Nashville or even St Pete. I just now took a closer look at the schedule and UK's prospects. The SEC coaches In a pre-season, rank the Cats over 4 SEC teams and 3 of the 4 non-conference foes should not be serious threats. So right there we have 7 "predicted" wins for UK---and the schedule? Of the seven winnable games, SIX are at home. Of the 5 tgames that UK will be expected to lose anyway, 4 are away.

Great scheduling break or what!

Non-conference home games: Southern Miss, N Mexico St, Austin Peay are at home for UK. So are the conference games with S. Carolina, Vandy and Miss St. Missouri is away. It will be most disapppointing if we don't win these seven. The only home game the Cats are likely to lose is to Georgia. We play away games with Florida, Bama, UT and UofL--teams we'd probably lose to even if er played them at home.

I've seen the schedule for months now but hadn't really noticed just how Cat friendly it is this season. We won't see much of the SEC's upper tier in the schedule, but I'm so eager for wins that I don't care who they come against.....and we only need one major upset to be in the chase for the big-time bowls, assuming we win all the seven that we should. I believe! I'm looking for 8 or bust.

 

[BigBoyBlueMMA]

Slow ya roll a little - and look at 2015 season - 8 home games and 6-7 expected wins of those
BUT I do like your thought process

 

[Dakota25]

This has pretty much been the talk on here each of the last few summers. I will admit that the home schedule is manageable but the road schedule is brutal. Missouri is the only road game UK has a decent chance of winning but the rest it would take a big upset. At home, besides Georgia, UK has a decent to good chance of winning each game. If they are to make a bowl then it would mean dominating in the commonwealth.

 

[CatFromDaHood]

This is the year we've been waiting on....7...maybe 8 wins. Put up or shut up time.

 

[3kidsandme]

Uk has improved under Stoops greatly imo. When he took over we where being flat destroyed by teams with mediocre talent. Last year was dissapointing because the talent was in place to go bowling. Stoops only mistake so far is a green shannon dawson. Stoops comments allude to Dawson having no answers for the offense to adjust. Stoops knows he is a defensive mind and has learned a valuable lesson from hiring Dawson. He needs to always have an experienced OC. Stoops cannot help that side of the ball if the OC struggles.

 

[Jdhays21]

In a year where we HAVE to make a bowl I'm ecstatic that our most winnable games are at home.

 

[SanAntonioCat_rivals376502]

Yessiree, the 2016 schedule sends us to a GOOD bowl--Nashville or even St Pete. I just now took a closer look at the schedule and UK's prospects. The SEC coaches In a pre-season, rank the Cats over 4 SEC teams and 3 of the 4 non-conference foes should not be serious threats. So right there we have 7 "predicted" wins for UK---and the schedule? Of the seven winnable games, SIX are at home. Of the 5 tgames that UK will be expected to lose anyway, 4 are away.

Great scheduling break or what!

Non-conference home games: Southern Miss, N Mexico St, Austin Peay are at home for UK. So are the conference games with S. Carolina, Vandy and Miss St. Missouri is away. It will be most disapppointing if we don't win these seven. The only home game the Cats are likely to lose is to Georgia. We play away games with Florida, Bama, UT and UofL--teams we'd probably lose to even if er played them at home.

I've seen the schedule for months now but hadn't really noticed just how Cat friendly it is this season. We won't see much of the SEC's upper tier in the schedule, but I'm so eager for wins that I don't care who they come against.....and we only need one major upset to be in the chase for the big-time bowls, assuming we win all the seven that we should. I believe! I'm looking for 8 or bust.

Good post. I'm still sayin' the streak ends in the swamp and we go 4-1 into Tuscaloosa. Wins 6-7 follow anti 8 is not out of the question, but very tough to accomplish this year

 

[T75]

This is the year we've been waiting on....7...maybe 8 wins. Put up or shut up time.

And we'd better believe that Stoops and crew are well aware of the need for a winning season this time around. We are beginning to have super players scattered throughout the rosters. I believe for sure this schedule gives us a better break than we've had for some time. And if the troops themselves are not on that same page, one that says "OK, we've got the facilities now, the fan support, let's go do it!", they must be cigar store Indians.

 

[Blueaz]

I dreamed last night that we beat Bama. I wasn't able to watch the game, but was heading to a bar after the game and three or four Bama fans were walking out cussing and bitching like crazy about the loss

 

[JC CATS]

I would be very happy with 6 wins this season and time to take a step next season. A bowl and i think recruiting will be off the chart, the extra practice reps help the young guys also. I'm all in.

 

[Deeeefense]

This has been my argument. The schedule favors 7--8 wins but works strongly against anything beyond that. Next year's schedule will be the opposite, the harder games will be at home, which means we have a chance for a BIG season.

Having said that, it's very risky trying to count wins or losses this time of year. Yes we might upset a team like Florida, but we can also get upset by a weaker team too and in fact in most years most teams do average one upset win and one upset loss (or sometimes more).

Our best upset possibility this year IMO is Georgia at home. We catch the Dawgs in a sandwich situation coming off their heated rivalry game with Florida, with another rival, Auburn the following week.

 

[WildCard]

This has been my argument. The schedule favors 7--8 wins but works strongly against anything beyond that. Next year's schedule will be the opposite, the harder games will be at home, which means we have a chance for a BIG season.

Having said that, it's very risky trying to count wins or losses this time of year. Yes we might upset a team like Florida, but we can also get upset by a weaker team too and in fact in most years most teams do average one upset win and one upset loss (or sometimes more).

Spot on, Deee. This year shapes up as a "take care of the ones you must take care of" year and next year looks to be the year to add some big upsets to that standard.

To the OP's point about "best schedule ever" it is really the "same" schedule as UK has played for some years now. The difference is some of the SECE monsters have not been monsters the past 5 to 10 years. And, so far, unlike SC and Mizzou, UK has not been able to take advantage of that. But SC appears to be sliding back to the pre-Spurrier SC and while Mizzou is a solid program it is hard to call them a year to year monster.

Until FL, GA and TN re-establish themselves as year to year elite programs a great opportunity exists for UK. A combination of UK inching up and some other sliding down a bit can change the "historic" look of the SECE.

Peace

 

[BigBlueTuckian]

This thread continues to prove that UK fans have some of the lowest football IQs ever

"Best schedule ever"

Lets see, this is the exact same schedule we played in 2014:

UT Martin- home
Ohio- home
Florida- away
Vanderbilt- home
South Carolina- home
Louisiana Monroe- home
LSU- away
Mississippi State- home
Missouri- away
Georgia- home
Tennessee- away
Louisville- away

In fact you can argue that this year it's tougher because you take a pansy like UT-Martin and substitute it with Souther Miss who we've discussed has a very good QB and RB returning. All other games are pretty much the same: an impossible opponent on the road (LSU 2014, Bama 2016), two teams that have dominated us for decades away (Florida, UT), our biggest rival on the road (UL), Georgia at home, etc. Did anyone say before the 2014 season that this was the best schedule ever?

How about 2012?

UL- away
Kent State- home
WKU- home
Florida- away
South Carolina- home
Miss State- home
Arkansas- away
Georgia- home
Missouri- away
Vandy- home
Samford- home
Tennessee- away

If anything I would argue THAT was the best schedule ever but as we've seen for decades UK can never take advantage of a schedule like that.

Last year the argument was that it's the most favorable schedule ever due to 8 home games and not having to play an SEC powerhouse like Bama or LSU. Lets face it, Auburn was gonna be down last year after their 2014 performance. Now all of a sudden this is the best schedule ever even though we have switched Auburn at home for Bama away and switched a true pansy for Southern Miss. Assuming wins against Mississippi State and Missouri gets us nowhere. UK is 0-2 in Columiba. We are 0-7 against Mullen and 0-5 against Miss State in Lexington in the last 5 tries. We have not beaten Miss State at home since 2005. We are 7-13 against them in the last 20 years. This used to be one of only two legitimate (Vandy is not legitimate) SEC teams we had a series lead over (4-3 vs Arkansas). Miss State now leads the series 22-21. And yes, I just called Vandy a non-legitimate SEC team in the previous sentence. Guess what, our series against them is tied 42-42-1. We don't even have a winning record against Vandy!!!!!! As of now of course, things will change this year.

Other nuggets of info:
Last victory over Florida in Gainesville: 1979 (Florida was 0-10-1 that year).
Last victory over Tennessee in Knoxville: 1984 (the last time Kentucky won 8 games in reg season).
The UK-UL series is 14-8 in favor of Louisville post 1924.
Kentucky has never won in Tuscaloosa. We've won twice in Lexington (1922, 1997) and tied once in Birmingham (1939). But we are 0-for-history in Tuscaloosa.

Glimmer of hope:
Last two UK victories over UGA in Lexington were in 2006 and 1996. Something about years that end in 6. Lets hope 2016 is the same.

Irrelevant side note:

With relation to UK's records against SEC teams, we are 3-3 against Missouri, with only a 1-3 record "in SEC play" i.e. after Missouri joined the conference. We are 1-1 against Texas A&M and have yet to play an SEC game against them.

 

[akaukswoosh]

Glimmer of hope:
Last two UK victories over UGA in Lexington were in 2006 and 1996. Something about years that end in 6. Lets hope 2016 is the same.

Works for me.

 

[jauk11]

This thread continues to prove that UK fans have some of the lowest football IQs ever

"Best schedule ever"

Lets see, this is the exact same schedule we played in 2014:

UT Martin- home
Ohio- home
Florida- away
Vanderbilt- home
South Carolina- home
Louisiana Monroe- home
LSU- away
Mississippi State- home
Missouri- away
Georgia- home
Tennessee- away
Louisville- away

In fact you can argue that this year it's tougher because you take a pansy like UT-Martin and substitute it with Souther Miss who we've discussed has a very good QB and RB returning. All other games are pretty much the same: an impossible opponent on the road (LSU 2014, Bama 2016), two teams that have dominated us for decades away (Florida, UT), our biggest rival on the road (UL), Georgia at home, etc. Did anyone say before the 2014 season that this was the best schedule ever?

How about 2012?

UL- away
Kent State- home
WKU- home
Florida- away
South Carolina- home
Miss State- home
Arkansas- away
Georgia- home
Missouri- away
Vandy- home
Samford- home
Tennessee- away

If anything I would argue THAT was the best schedule ever but as we've seen for decades UK can never take advantage of a schedule like that.

Last year the argument was that it's the most favorable schedule ever due to 8 home games and not having to play an SEC powerhouse like Bama or LSU. Lets face it, Auburn was gonna be down last year after their 2014 performance. Now all of a sudden this is the best schedule ever even though we have switched Auburn at home for Bama away and switched a true pansy for Southern Miss. Assuming wins against Mississippi State and Missouri gets us nowhere. UK is 0-2 in Columiba. We are 0-7 against Mullen and 0-5 against Miss State in Lexington in the last 5 tries. We have not beaten Miss State at home since 2005. We are 7-13 against them in the last 20 years. This used to be one of only two legitimate (Vandy is not legitimate) SEC teams we had a series lead over (4-3 vs Arkansas). Miss State now leads the series 22-21. And yes, I just called Vandy a non-legitimate SEC team in the previous sentence. Guess what, our series against them is tied 42-42-1. We don't even have a winning record against Vandy!!!!!! As of now of course, things will change this year.

Other nuggets of info:
Last victory over Florida in Gainesville: 1979 (Florida was 0-10-1 that year).
Last victory over Tennessee in Knoxville: 1984 (the last time Kentucky won 8 games in reg season).
The UK-UL series is 14-8 in favor of Louisville post 1924.
Kentucky has never won in Tuscaloosa. We've won twice in Lexington (1922, 1997) and tied once in Birmingham (1939). But we are 0-for-history in Tuscaloosa.

Glimmer of hope:
Last two UK victories over UGA in Lexington were in 2006 and 1996. Something about years that end in 6. Lets hope 2016 is the same.

Irrelevant side note:

With relation to UK's records against SEC teams, we are 3-3 against Missouri, with only a 1-3 record "in SEC play" i.e. after Missouri joined the conference. We are 1-1 against Texas A&M and have yet to play an SEC game against them.

Nice rundown, thanks for all the work.

But UK's only chance to rise in the SEC is to recruit MUCH better (big start there, could explode if we start winning) and for our coaching to improve. Both are happening, IMO, encouraged by the latest coaching changes.

The "very good" talent Joker inherited in 2000 included TWO four stars playing, how many four stars on the team now?

 

[Mr Schwump]

Not a bad schedule IF the stars align and players develop as needed, a huge IF. But any schedule with Bama in Tuscaloosa cannot be proclaimed as "best ever."

 

[bratboy]

Yessiree, the 2016 schedule sends us to a GOOD bowl--Nashville or even St Pete. I just now took a closer look at the schedule and UK's prospects. The SEC coaches In a pre-season, rank the Cats over 4 SEC teams and 3 of the 4 non-conference foes should not be serious threats. So right there we have 7 "predicted" wins for UK---and the schedule? Of the seven winnable games, SIX are at home. Of the 5 tgames that UK will be expected to lose anyway, 4 are away.

Great scheduling break or what!

Non-conference home games: Southern Miss, N Mexico St, Austin Peay are at home for UK. So are the conference games with S. Carolina, Vandy and Miss St. Missouri is away. It will be most disapppointing if we don't win these seven. The only home game the Cats are likely to lose is to Georgia. We play away games with Florida, Bama, UT and UofL--teams we'd probably lose to even if er played them at home.

I've seen the schedule for months now but hadn't really noticed just how Cat friendly it is this season. We won't see much of the SEC's upper tier in the schedule, but I'm so eager for wins that I don't care who they come against.....and we only need one major upset to be in the chase for the big-time bowls, assuming we win all the seven that we should. I believe! I'm looking for 8 or bust.

Don't really see UF being unbeatable this year. Lots of questions on tho O side of ball and no Hargreaves in the secondary..may be looking through blue goggles but think it's a winnable game.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

This has been my argument. The schedule favors 7--8 wins but works strongly against anything beyond that. Next year's schedule will be the opposite, the harder games will be at home, which means we have a chance for a BIG season.

Having said that, it's very risky trying to count wins or losses this time of year. Yes we might upset a team like Florida, but we can also get upset by a weaker team too and in fact in most years most teams do average one upset win and one upset loss (or sometimes more).

Our best upset possibility this year IMO is Georgia at home. We catch the Dawgs in a sandwich situation coming off their heated rivalry game with Florida, with another rival, Auburn the following week.

I don't disagree, truthfully I don't know what we are going to have heading into the season. We return quite a bit defensively, a secondary returns everyone who played a snap and led the nation in passing yards allowed,but we played 2 teams who ran a triple option offense. ILB will return 1 starter and 1 who started early in 15 but missed most of it with an injury. DL will consist of 2 Jr 3 soph and 3 frosh. By the UK game Eason should be starting, Michel will be back from the broken arm and who knows about Chubb's health. We have 1 sr WR, 2 Jr with one being JUCO, 3 soph and 3 frosh. But we have 5 TE including the 16 number 1 WR and another who would have pushed for it if listed as a TE, He was a 6:5" 220 lb WR, but since last fall he has turned into a 6'6" 255 TE, we will use alot of 2 and 3 TE sets. I don't expect much this year, but 17 we will be much better, returning 10 starters on D and 8 on O. But I don't see many almost certain wins this season, I think 8 would be a good season, if we managed 10 then we hired the right coach. But UK is certainly a game we can lose, but I think we are done with the no show games Richt was so well known for every year. But we may just not be good/experienced enough this year.

 

[BluffaloSlim]

Louisville is far from the automatic loss some of you seem to think.