Kentucky Football Bowl Projections following the Mississippi State loss

What did the loss to Mississippi State cost Kentucky? According to most college football experts, a New Year’s Six Bowl. A review of the latest bowl projections shows the Cats dropping from the New Year’s Six to the best of the rest. The Citrus Bowl seems to be the trendy pick right now.

Before we get to the bowl projections, here’s a reminder of the postseason structure.

College Football Playoff

• College Football Playoff Semifinal: Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31, TBA, Arlington, TX)
• College Football Playoff Semifinal: Orange Bowl (Dec. 31, TBA, Miami, FL)
• College Football Playoff National Championship (Jan. 10, TBA, Indianapolis, IN)

Rest of the New Year’s Six Bowls

• Sugar Bowl: SEC vs. Big 12 (Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m., New Orleans, LA)
• Rose Bowl: Big 10 vs. Pac-12 (Jan. 1, 5 p.m., Pasadena, CA)
• Fiesta Bowl: At-large vs. at-large (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., Glendale, AZ)
• Peach Bowl: At-large vs. at-large (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., Atlanta, GA)

From here, teams are assigned to the rest of the bowls. The Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1) and Outback Bowl (Jan. 1) are considered the best of that group.

Kentucky Football Bowl Projections

• On3: Citrus Bowl vs. Iowa (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Citrus Bowl vs. Iowa (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Citrus Bowl vs. Minnesota (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• Brett McMurphy: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• Saturday Down South’s Jim Tomlin: Citrus Bowl vs. Minnesota (Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Fiesta Bowl vs. Notre Dame (Jan. 1, ESPN, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ)
• Stewart Mandel: Outback Bowl vs. Penn State (Jan. 1, Noon, ESPN2, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL)
• 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford: Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma State
• College Football News: Gator Bowl vs. Clemson (Dec. 31, 11 a.m., ESPN, TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL)

Of all the teams that lost on Saturday, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach says Kentucky hurt its cause the most.

“I was singing the Wildcats’ praises in this space a week ago, even after their first loss of the season, 30-13 at Georgia. The Wildcats apparently let the Bulldogs beat them twice because they had four turnovers and didn’t play much pass defense in a 31-17 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday. Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers completed 36 of 39 passes to break the SEC record for completion percentage (92%) for a quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts. With games left against Tennessee (home), Vanderbilt (road), New Mexico State (home) and Louisville (road), Kentucky is still in pretty good shape to finish 10-2. It might need some of the better SEC West teams to beat up each other down the stretch to get to a New Year’s Six bowl, though.”

As you can see, two writers have Kentucky still making a New Year’s Six Bowl. For that to happen, Brad Crawford says the Cats must win out and Georgia and Alabama need to make the playoff.

“Kentucky spoiled its shot at a one-loss season on Saturday night at Mississippi State after falling on its face, 31-17,” Crawford wrote. “However, if the Wildcats win out, Mark Stoops’ team will have a great shot at playing in the Sugar Bowl as the SEC’s No. 3 if both Georgia and Alabama reach the College Football Playoff.”

Mission No. 1: Get back to winning. Mission No. 2: Just keep winning.