Mitch Barnhart digs into 9-game SEC schedule: "I was vocal about eight."

Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart‘s voice carries serious weight in the SEC, but not enough to hold off league presidents from voting to add a ninth game to the conference schedule against the Wildcats’ wishes. Just weeks after making it clear, “eight is better for Kentucky,” Barnhart had to watch SEC commissioner Greg Sankey make the push, joining the Big Ten and Big 12 as power leagues with nine conference matchups each season — and increasing the likelihood of an expanded College Football Playoff.

On one hand, UK is going to make more TV money to help pay some additional bills with the move. The likely CFP expansion will do the same. Traditional rivalries will also be preserved while the Governor’s Cup will survive, Sankey requiring every team to schedule at least one additional high-quality non-conference foe from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Notre Dame each year. Fewer cupcakes to sleepwalk through to make the national product more entertaining for the casual football fan.

On the other hand, man, life will be tough for Kentucky, more so than it’s already been since things started going downhill in the new NIL era. The Wildcats already have one of the toughest schedules in the sport, and it’s only going to get tougher.

How is Barnhart feeling about it all? About the same as he did when nine-game SEC schedules were first discussed and when the move was made official — “We’ve consistently felt that the current format was the right fit for Kentucky,” he said shortly after the announcement, adding, “We’ll embrace the challenge head-on.”

Two weeks into the 2025 season, he’s already seeing some early signs that 2026 will be a doozy for everyone.

“I was vocal about eight. I think that’s best for Kentucky,” Barnhart said at this week’s Champions Blue LLC meeting. “Having said that, I’ve heard, ‘Oh, you’re afraid to play.’ No, I’m not. I just think it’s what’s best for us. I think every team had to schedule the way they needed to schedule, what was best. As you watch teams compete early in the season, you’re seeing teams that are taking on some injuries. You’re seeing some teams taking on some losses, and then they’re going, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ve still got ten games left, and nine of those could be conference games next year.'”

What’s done is done, though, and now is the time to figure it all out. How can the Wildcats get out of the bottom of the SEC and compete the way they did in 2018 and 2021? Crying about it does no one any good.

It’s Barnhart’s job to make Mark Stoops do his job as a top-10-paid head coach in college football. These are the new circumstances; do something about it.

“That’s the space we’re now in, and that’s what we’ve taken on. So now let’s go figure out how to do that effectively and well,” Barnhart continued. “Let’s adjust the way we schedule, and we’ll adjust the things that we’re doing to make sure that we give our team the best chance to compete, the best chance to be healthy, and that’s really, really important. 

“It is a long grind, and if you put nine plus a (Power Four) game in there, that is a long grind for our young people. Then you start talking about changing the playoff format and what does that look like? So my goal as an athletic director is to make sure that I put my coach and our team in the best opportunity to be able to be competitive and be healthy.”

Health is a key component, too, Barnhart discussing the possibility of two bye weeks to maximize recovery time and create some breathing room during the season.

“I remember talking to our players last year, and they said that after we play an SEC game, ‘It’s really difficult to walk until you get to Tuesday or Wednesday. It really hurts.’ … You think about adding one more of those games to the space for those guys and those people. It’s hard. It is a battle. … You saw that on Saturday (against Ole Miss). So, the nine-game schedule, we’ll have to find the balance.”

Fans who enjoy eight rowdy Caturdays at Kroger Field every few years? That’ll be an adjustment, too — because it’ll be nearly impossible to make that work with the new format. That also means a financial hit for seven instead of eight to make the added TV and CFP expansion money not simply more to the pot.

“I don’t see that being a possibility of how we can get to eight,” he continued. “So every other year, you’re going to have five conference road games, and you’re going to lose one of those opportunities to maybe have that extra game in there, which has been super supportive financially for our program.”

Will we at least get to play Tennessee every year as part of the three-permanent-opponent setup? Barnhart says he isn’t sure, but that news is coming soon. But that’s for another day ahead of another year.

Until then, the Cats have ten (and hopefully 11) more opportunities to win football games in 2025.