Kentucky Bowl Projections after the Tennessee loss

Kentucky’s loss to Tennessee leaves the Cats one win shy of bowl eligibility with four games remaining. To extend the school-record streak of consecutive bowls to eight, Kentucky must pick up a victory on the road at Mississippi State, South Carolina, or No. 15 Louisville, or upset No. 8 Alabama at Kroger Field. Not exactly an ideal situation coming off three straight losses.

For what it’s worth, the talking heads believe Kentucky will go bowling. The Liberty Bowl is the most popular choice in the latest bowl projections, followed by the Birmingham Bowl. ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura paints the rosiest picture, slotting the Cats in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte. That feels like the best-case scenario at this point.

• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Duke (Dec. 27, 5:30 PM, ESPN, Charlotte, NC)
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Liberty Bowl vs. Iowa State (Dec. 29, 3:30 PM, ESPN, Memphis, TN)
• Brett McMurphy: Liberty Bowl vs. TCU (Dec. 29, 3:30 PM, ESPN, Memphis, TN)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Birmingham Bowl vs. Marshall (Dec. 23, Noon, ABC, Birmingham, AL)
• Sporting News’ Bill Bender: Liberty Bowl vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 29, 3:30 PM, ESPN, Memphis, TN)
• 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford: Birmingham Bowl vs. Maryland (Dec. 23, Noon, ABC, Birmingham, AL)

Kentucky went to the Music City Bowl last year, so we can probably cross that one off the list. There are worse things than walking in Memphis. Beale Street’s a good time. Rendezvous barbeque is delicious. Here is Adam Luckett’s latest guess on where the SEC teams will land in the postseason:

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Kentucky slides in national rankings

Kentucky was receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls heading into the weekend. Following the 33-27 loss to Tennessee, that is no longer the case. Kentucky didn’t pick up any votes in the AP Poll and is barely hanging on in the Coaches Poll, tallying one point for No. 38 overall.

The Athletic and CBS Sports rank all 133 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) each week. Kentucky fell five spots to No. 30 in The Athletic’s rankings and six places in CBS Sports’ to No. 37. The good news is two of Kentucky’s upcoming opponents, Mississippi State and South Carolina, are much lower. Here is where the Cats and their opponents stand in all of the national rankings:

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