Mark Stoops 'lives to fight another day' after Auburn win, but Florida game could decide his fate

You could feel the emotion in Mark Stoops‘ postgame comments after Kentucky beat Auburn 10-3 on the road Saturday night, the Wildcats’ first victory against an SEC team over the last 10 tries. The 2025 season hasn’t gone as planned to this point, but there was a sense of relief from Stoops following this one, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Both Stoops and Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze entered this game on the hot seat. This kind of ugly loss for the Tigers might spell the end of Freeze’s tenure on The Plains, likely sooner rather than later. For Stoops, the win might just have saved his job — for now, at least.

“As a practical matter, I thought if they lost tonight, kinda his fate was sealed,” Matt Jones said of Stoops on the KSR Postgame Show. “But now, he lives to fight another day.“

Kentucky is now 3-5 (1-5 SEC) on the season. Saturday’s win was the program’s first since beating Eastern Michigan all the way back on Sept. 13 — over six weeks ago. It broke a four-game losing streak on the season, all of which came against conference opponents. Kentucky needed to win, but what happens next weekend now becomes even more important to the future of the Stoops era in Lexington.

Next Saturday, UK hosts Florida, which fired its coach on Oct. 19 and is coming off a 24-20 loss to Georgia on Saturday. The Gators will bring a 3-5 (2-3 SEC) overall record to Kroger Field. Another defeat for the ‘Cats would make it even tougher to bring Stoops back in 2026, but a win could make things very interesting with three more games still on the regular season schedule.

“They get Florida next week at home. I think it’s crucial,” Jones added. “I think if he loses that game, probably you end up with the same result as if he loses tonight. Which is, it would be hard to bring him back. But if you win, and then you beat Tennessee Tech, and you’re 5-5, with Vandy and Louisville, I mean, you got a shot to make a bowl. There is no argument, he will be brought back if they make a bowl. They are not firing a coach at Kentucky and paying a $37 million buyout if he makes a bowl.”

Losing to Florida would continue Kentucky’s streak of dropping home SEC games, which dates back to 2023. The Gators will still likely enter as the betting favorites, but another loss for Kentucky at this stage in the season would turn up the heat under Stoops’ seat to a degree we haven’t seen. There is an awkward world where UK beats Florida and Tennessee Tech, then loses the final two games to finish 5-7. Jones believes the fans would likely still push for a change in that instance, but the administration might feel differently.

“I don’t know what happens in that scenario,” Jones said. “But I do know what would have happened if they would have lost tonight, which was it would have been over. And so it was a huge win.”

Stoops’ job security is a game-by-game talking point. He was able to slow down that conversation a bit by beating Auburn, but the chatter will only pick back up between now and the Florida game.