Kentucky now has avenue into Citrus Bowl following rivalry weekend
Kentucky’s throttling of Louisville may have just locked in a New Year’s trip to Florida for the Big Blue Nation.
Following an Egg Bowl win by Ole Miss, an Iron Bowl survival from Alabama, and an LSU upset over Texas A&M, Kentucky could be in the driver’s seat after Georgia heads to the playoff, Alabama goes to the playoff or New Year’s Six and 10-win Ole Miss also heads to the New Year’s Six.
KSR has all of the possible scenarios as the college football world moves into championship weekend.
Citrus is on the table
Entering the weekend, it appeared to be Outback Bowl or bust for Kentucky. The Wildcats trailed both Ole Miss and Texas A&M with each likely going to be ranked ahead of the Wildcats. Meanwhile, Mississippi State was lurking with a 4-3 conference record and a head-to-head win over Kentucky in their back pocket.
My, how the turntables have turned in recent days.
Ole Miss is now locked into the New Year’s Six, and Kentucky has the best overall record (9-3) and conference record (5-3) of the remaining teams out of the New Year’s Six.
Orlando’s Citrus Bowl gets the first pick.
The only caveat to this is how the Citrus Bowl folks will go about picking their team. Arkansas sat at No. 25 in the most recent College Football Playoff top 25 and will likely be ahead of Kentucky when the new rankings are released on Tuesday. Texas A&M sits at No. 14 but should have a major drop coming after a loss to a 6-6 LSU team.
Per the SEC’s website, it isn’t clear if the Citrus Bowl will take an SEC team with the best record or the highest-ranked.
“The Citrus Bowl in Orlando (vs . Big Ten), a longtime SEC bowl, will have the first selection of available SEC teams after any conference schools have qualified for the College Football Playoff, New Year’s Six, or the Allstate Sugar Bowl.”
As of right now, this appears to be a two-horse race with the Hogs and the Wildcats with Texas A&M as a wild card depending on how the rankings shake out.
Could we do this again?
Outback Bowl should be the floor
After the Citrus Bowl makes a selection, there is a pool of six bowls for the Southeastern Conference teams. The Outback Bowl, Texas Bowl, Gator Bowl, Music City Bowl, Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and Liberty Bowl are all in the same tier.
However, the schools will have some say on who is picked.
If passed over for the Citrus Bowl, Kentucky will be the first team available for the next tier. The Wildcats will have the top pick, and that should mean a trip to Tampa.
Back in 2019, Kentucky lost out on a trip to the Gator Bowl because Tennessee was ahead of the Wildcats in the pecking order. After the Vols and athletic director Phillip Fulmer appeared to agree to a Music City bid, UT backed out and stole a Florida trip from Kentucky.
This time around, the Wildcats will have the top pick and the destination should be the Outback Bowl.
Pack your bags
Regardless, it’s time to prepare for another bowl trip to the Sunshine State. For the third time in four years, Kentucky will be heading to Florida for a bowl game.
Whether Orlando or Tampa, KSR will be there to provide the coverage. We look forward to seeing the Big Blue Nation there as Kentucky will play a team from the Big Ten.
Let’s party.
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