The 2024 Kentucky Football season kicks off on Saturday vs. Southern Miss. With the SEC expanding to 16 teams, Kentucky’s schedule is tougher than ever, featuring four teams in the Preseason AP Top 25, three in the top six. That said, KSR believes the Cats will go bowling for the ninth straight year.

All 15 members of our panel have Kentucky reaching six wins and starting the season 3-1, the first loss coming to No. 1 Georgia on Sept. 14. Of the three road games against ranked teams, Nick Roush calls for an upset at Ole Miss, Shannon the Dude believes the Cats will beat Tennessee in Knoxville, and Jack Pilgrim and Jacob Polacheck think Kentucky will bring a home win from Texas. On the flip side, Billy Rutledge and BTI play heel, predicting Louisville will snap its five-year losing streak in the Governor’s Cup by beating Kentucky at Kroger Field to end the regular season. Boooo.

Seven of us have Kentucky finishing 7-5, six 8-4, and two 6-6. Check out our picks and reasoning below in visual and written form.

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Comments from the panel…

Tyler Thompson: 7-5

I think the gap between 7-5 and 8-4 is very small this year. The likelihood of Kentucky beating Georgia, Tennessee, and/or Texas is low, especially since two of those games are on the road. The Cats should have won at Ole Miss two years ago and have more than a puncher’s chance this year thanks to an elite defense and an early kickoff time. Even if they pull off that upset — which could change the trajectory of the season — I worry about the game in Gainesville three weeks later.

Mark Stoops’ teams always drop a game they shouldn’t, and this year, I think that’s vs. Florida. The Gators are desperate to snap the losing streak to Kentucky and Billy Napier’s seat is hot. The Cats can get back on track vs. Auburn the next Saturday at home and finish the season with a win over Louisville. A 7-5 record may not look good on paper, but when you consider the schedule, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Drew Franklin: 8-4

I predict an 8-4 record for Kentucky in 2024, winning big games against South Carolina, Louisville, and Auburn in Lexington and at Florida in the Swamp. The latter will mark the end of Billy Napier in Gainesville as the Gators drop a fourth straight to the Wildcats, furthering UK’s dominance in the series that Florida owned for decades.

Kentucky’s four losses will come against its four toughest opponents in Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. However, an upset is not out of the question in those games.

Nick Roush: 7-5

On paper, this feels like it’s better than a seven-win team, but college football programs are prisoners to their schedules and this one is a doozy. Ole Miss is Kentucky’s most likely upset. Mark Stoops always plays them close, losing three games by a combined seven points. Like the last trip to Oxford, the Rebels will enter this game untested after Kentucky already has a few SEC battles under its belt. 

As much as I’d love to pick a fourth-straight win over Florida, it feels too good to be true. Yes, we can all see a scenario where Stoops leaves a few pink slips on the sideline of The Swamp, but I think Florida is better on paper than what most people will give them credit for and this is a must-win for Billy Napier. They’ll be ready to play. That loss won’t sting as badly as the Auburn one. Kentucky has struggled at home as of late and I believe Hugh Freeze will have the Tigers over-achieving in the second year of his tenure. Win either of those two games and most of BBN will believe Kentucky had a pretty darn good season. 

Adam Luckett: 7-5

Kentucky ends the two-game losing streak to South Carolina to set up some big conference games in September. The Wildcats then extend the winning streak over Florida but let one slip away at Auburn. The Cats will attempt to play College Football Playoff spoiler on the road in November versus Tennessee and Texas but will end the year on a high note with another win over Louisville. I’m afraid a third consecutive 7-5 finish feels like the most likely outcome for a top 20-25 caliber team mostly due to a very difficult schedule.

Jack Pilgrim: 8-4

Mark Stoops has one of his most talented rosters from top to bottom, but he also has his toughest schedule since arriving in Lexington. That’s going to lead to a season that feels better than maybe the final record suggests — 8-4 this year is like 9-3 or even 10-2 in others. It’ll be a bounce-back year after what was inarguably a letdown campaign in 2023. 

Zack Geoghegan: 7-5

The new-look SEC is going to do Kentucky no favors this season. The ‘Cats should have little issue winning all four non-conference games (Louisville has to prove it can challenge UK before we take them seriously) but there are five SEC opponents either ranked in the Top 25 or receiving votes. Three matchups against the preseason Top 6 (Georgia, Ole Miss, and Texas) will be tough to pull off wins in. But Kentucky will win the games it’s supposed to this season, including a big road win over Florida. I foresee no major upset this season, resulting in a respectable final record of 7-5.

Jacob Polacheck: 8-4

I have a feeling we’re going to see this Kentucky team come close to exceeding expectations this season with an 8-4 record. The SEC schedule is tough, but this is the most talented Kentucky team we’ve seen in a while, so I’m expecting some upsets, most notably on the road against Texas. 

Shannon the Dude: 8-4

It has been a relatively quiet off-season for Kentucky Football. Part of that is from coming off a season where last year’s team fell short of expectations but the other part of that is a quiet confidence that Mark Stoops has in this team. Kentucky pulls off the upset in Knoxville and finishes with a big win over Louisville to go 8-4.

Bryan the Intern: 6-6

I’m playing the law of averages game with this season.  Mark Stoops’ teams play better in the 1st half of the season than the 2nd, thus 4-2 in the first 6 games and 2-4 in the last 6.  Kentucky always blows a game they shouldn’t and this year that’s either Auburn or Florida.  I chose the road game.  And frankly, UofL is due in the series and probably comes into the game quite a bit pissed off from last year’s choke.  I don’t like question marks at offensive line when you are a run-heavy coach and a new QB.  And yes, until I see different, Mark Stoops will not have a pass-happy offense.  I hope I’m wrong on all accounts but as the only person who predicted 7-5 last year, I’m the most expert of this group of Roush brains.