With the SEC now officially at 16 members after the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, and the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams beginning this season, schools are going to have a chance to reach the postseason and play for a national championship more than at any other time in history.
Unfortunately for Kentucky, the Wildcats aren’t one of the teams who will benefit from conference realignment and the new Playoff model. That’s according to veteran college football analyst Stewart Mandel.
In a new piece for The Athletic ($), Mandel handed out scores for how much realignment and the new postseason format helps each school. He explains his “New World Order Status” rankings this way:
“I’ve given all 67 power-conference schools a score between minus-5 and positive-5. The score is solely about a team’s ability to win, and does not take into account the team’s current coaching staff or roster. Scoring a 0 means the school is neither better nor worse off. A score from 1 to 5 ranges from mildly better to far better, and -1 to -5 ranges from mildly worse to … uh oh.”
So where does Kentucky rank on Mandel’s scale? Here’s where the “uh oh” part comes in. The ‘Cats received a -3 grade by Mandel.
He explains:
“Mark Stoops is on track to have a statue sculpted for taking the Wildcats to eight straight bowl games, but those Gator and Music City bowls might not feel as significant in the new world. They also may become harder to reach with no SEC East.”
Kentucky is one of four SEC teams to receive a -3 grade in Mandel’s rankings, joining Mississippi State, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Vanderbilt received a -4 grade.
The Wildcats open the 2024 season on August 31 against Southern Miss at Kroger Field. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on SEC Network.
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