Another lazy "journalist" that doesnt bother

[Girthang]

...researching the teams about which they post.

The most important 2023 conference game for every SEC program this fall

A pair of November matchups — Georgia-Tennessee and LSU-Alabama — are two of the most important SEC conference games in 2023.

www.on3.com

1. We beat the Gators last season and finished 7-6.

2. The Gators aren't the litmus test they were in decades past. Our biggest games are @UGA and vs Bama at home.

3. The next biggest game is beating Vandy at their place the week before we play Florida. If we look past Vandy, we can lose that game.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Vandy is definitely a big game as after last seasons disaster loss it is a must win.

Georgia and bama are the biggest games but will both also be ass kicking most likely.

 

[JHB4UK]

Not sure i have a problem with anyone saying Florida week 5 is our most important SEC game of 2023? That one could be the diff from an ordinary bowl season or a special run.

Of course didn't boost us much last yr beating them!

 

[m080470]

Florida should be a win for us. Almost as important is we KNOW we can beat them. I know from a fan's perspective it does but I also think it affects the players. For years that game had a mystique that at times we COULD win but also thinking we probably won't. That game is no longer a curse, in fact I think our players go in thinking they're going to kick their a$$. Florida is still significantly in rebuilding mode and I think we should be better. Our offense should be vastly improved, the biggest question and it's a big one, is finding someone to fill CRod's shoes. We've got the RB personnel to do it, but can they? Otherwise, everything from OC, line, more experienced receivers and I think even QB is an upgrade over last year. Defense is stacked again.

The game that defines the season will be UT. We got smeared there last year from a horrible offensive game plan. We should have beat them the previous season (unfortunately that happens a lot against them) but while they are better, I don't think UT has reached the upper echelon of the SEC yet. They're closer than we are but even with their win against Bama last year, I don't think they are in that elite group as the blowout loss to South Carolina showed

 

[UKat1]

Florida should be a win for us. Almost as important is we KNOW we can beat them. I know from a fan's perspective it does but I also think it affects the players. For years that game had a mystique that at times we COULD win but also thinking we probably won't. That game is no longer a curse, in fact I think our players go in thinking they're going to kick their a$$. Florida is still significantly in rebuilding mode and I think we should be better. Our offense should be vastly improved, the biggest question and it's a big one, is finding someone to fill CRod's shoes. We've got the RB personnel to do it, but can they? Otherwise, everything from OC, line, more experienced receivers and I think even QB is an upgrade over last year. Defense is stacked again.

The game that defines the season will be UT. We got smeared there last year from a horrible offensive game plan. We should have beat them the previous season (unfortunately that happens a lot against them) but while they are better, I don't think UT has reached the upper echelon of the SEC yet. They're closer than we are but even with their win against Bama last year, I don't think they are in that elite group as the blowout loss to South Carolina showed

Should be a win???? Vandy should've been a win last season but guess what...it wasn't. There are NO gimmes and Florida will be much better this season. I hope we do beat them, but I sure wouldn't say we SHOULD win any conference game, we don't even know yet how good the Cats will be....no games have been played yet. Let's just play one game at a time

 

[m080470]

What's your.problem????? I said SHOULD be!!! I didn't say WOULD! Lighten the f### up. I'm a fan, I don't have to play it one game at a time.

 

[maroon79]

The Cats should be the Gators like illegitimate red headed step kids this year

 

[maroon79]

The UK games are UT, Bama and UGA

 

[bballcat4]

I have to agree with writer that UF game is the see-saw game that will determine the season. Win Fla in week 5 and the season sets up for a potentially historic year. Lose against Fla and it will be mediocre/good.

We can lose to Ga and Ala and still have a phenomenal year. Beat Fla and possibly split against Ga/Ala and it can become season we talk about for a long time.

Fla game is the game we MUST win in order to climb over the 6-8 teams that are hanging around the 2nd tier of SEC.

Beating either Ga or Ala would be great, but the win loses a lot of glitter if Fla beat us earlier in the year. Ex - TxAM beat Ala a couple years ago, but lost some games they were supposed to win. The talk after the season wasn’t about beating Ala (it’s all Jimbo wanted to talk about) but about losing the other games. Granted, I think they lost their starting QB early in the year.

 

[Pickle_Rick]

Even losing their QB we're not beating Ga. They're good enough that their vanilla offense will beat us. I think we got a better shot at Bama. They're gonna be expecting old Kentucky... take our whipping, and take our check. But I am sick of losing to EwwTee. Almost as bad as the Florida streak. I think if we break through one game in the series we will become more even sided.

 

[K_TIME]

UK should beat Florida (and Vandy as well). FLorida lost the only offensive weapon that was good in AR15...and even he was not awesome at all. I know they are recruiting better and maybe it pays off down the road...b.ut not 2023. The Wisconsin QB transfer is a step down. Their offense looked like Terry Wilson last year at UK according to most fans in spring....a complete disaster.

UK has a top D unit. With Coen back...the offense almost assuredly will be a good bit better. UK controlled the UF game last year (and w/o CROd) and won handily in the Swamp. Back home...UK 24 - UF 13 is my guess.

 

[bballcat4]

I think if we break through one game in the series we will become more even sided.

UK beat them twice in last five or six years.

They boat raced us last year. But, I agree that UK needs to make this an even series to keep climbing the SEC ladder.

 

[Deeeefense]

They boat raced us last year.

?

 

[Deeeefense]

The Wisconsin transfer Mertz hasn't nailed down the QB spot which means there will be a 3 player battle going into the fall. To me that's never a good place to be. Glad we are set at the QB spot, just need to settle on a backup.

 

[ganner918]

What's your.problem????? I said SHOULD be!!! I didn't say WOULD! Lighten the f### up. I'm a fan, I don't have to play it one game at a time.

If you're this worked up over someone disagreeing with you on the internet, you need to log off for a while.

 

[Girthang]

Not sure i have a problem with anyone saying Florida week 5 is our most important SEC game of 2023? That one could be the diff from an ordinary bowl season or a special run.

Of course didn't boost us much last yr beating them!

If you read the article, the author says that beating UF means we get 9 wins. Since that isn't true, I have a problem with it.

Yep. Another reason it isn't our biggest game. It didn't boost us the first year we beat them and finished with the same record. They were ranked ahead of us and maybe got a better bowl game as well.

 

[Girthang]

Vandy is definitely a big game as after last seasons disaster loss it is a must win.

Georgia and bama are the biggest games but will both also be ass kicking most likely.

I'm not sure we'll be kicking their asses, but I would love to see us beat them both by multiple TDs.

 

[Girthang]

Florida should be a win for us. Almost as important is we KNOW we can beat them. I know from a fan's perspective it does but I also think it affects the players. For years that game had a mystique that at times we COULD win but also thinking we probably won't. That game is no longer a curse, in fact I think our players go in thinking they're going to kick their a$$. Florida is still significantly in rebuilding mode and I think we should be better. Our offense should be vastly improved, the biggest question and it's a big one, is finding someone to fill CRod's shoes. We've got the RB personnel to do it, but can they? Otherwise, everything from OC, line, more experienced receivers and I think even QB is an upgrade over last year. Defense is stacked again.

The game that defines the season will be UT. We got smeared there last year from a horrible offensive game plan. We should have beat them the previous season (unfortunately that happens a lot against them) but while they are better, I don't think UT has reached the upper echelon of the SEC yet. They're closer than we are but even with their win against Bama last year, I don't think they are in that elite group as the blowout loss to South Carolina showed

How players and coaches approach a game shows on the field. No doubt.

 

[Girthang]

I have to agree with writer that UF game is the see-saw game that will determine the season. Win Fla in week 5 and the season sets up for a potentially historic year. Lose against Fla and it will be mediocre/good.

We can lose to Ga and Ala and still have a phenomenal year. Beat Fla and possibly split against Ga/Ala and it can become season we talk about for a long time.

Fla game is the game we MUST win in order to climb over the 6-8 teams that are hanging around the 2nd tier of SEC.

Beating either Ga or Ala would be great, but the win loses a lot of glitter if Fla beat us earlier in the year. Ex - TxAM beat Ala a couple years ago, but lost some games they were supposed to win. The talk after the season wasn’t about beating Ala (it’s all Jimbo wanted to talk about) but about losing the other games. Granted, I think they lost their starting QB early in the year.

Beating Georgia or Alabama isn't getting any glitter knocked off of it if we lose to Florida. Sorry. No way.

Beating the repeat NC at their place would have us shttin glitter for a week. Beating Alabama at home when they've been a perennial contender for over a decade would be similar, if not AS big of a deal.

The Florida game has NOTHING to do with the game at Athens and/or at home against Bama. That's stinkin thinkin and part of the culture we still need to eliminate from old KY football.

 

[Girthang]

UT is still going to be a match up issue. Do we have the personnel to handle their speed at the wide out position AND that is physical enough to cover the running game. We had the coverage and prep in place but couldn't execute it last season. If we can't do it again this season, it will be tough to beat them.

That said, it's still not as big of a game imo. As much as I dislike them, it's still not as important to the season.

 

[JHB4UK]

The Wisconsin transfer Mertz hasn't nailed down the QB spot which means there will be a 3 player battle going into the fall. To me that's never a good place to be. Glad we are set at the QB spot, just need to settle on a backup.

Ironically the Florida game plan for 2023 to be successful will be typical Mark Stoops (non-Coen). run the ball, keep qb from throwing unless 3rd & long, protect & save defense, shorten the game to try & keep it very low scoring into the 4th.

 

[ganner918]

If you read the article, the author says that beating UF means we get 9 wins. Since that isn't true, I have a problem with it.

Yep. Another reason it isn't our biggest game. It didn't boost us the first year we beat them and finished with the same record. They were ranked ahead of us and maybe got a better bowl game as well.

Regardless, starting 5-0 is an absolute must. We have a meat grinder of a schedule after that and we've seen in the past that getting beat up by a team like Georgia can have a hangover effect the following week. I also don't like getting UT after a bye... we just don't seem to come out well after a week off. Hard for me to see us getting >8 wins just because of how difficult the schedule is, but god it's time for us to knock off a top 10 UGA, Bama, UT.

 

[bballcat4]

Beating Georgia or Alabama isn't getting any glitter knocked off of it if we lose to Florida. Sorry. No way.

Beating the repeat NC at their place would have us shttin glitter for a week. Beating Alabama at home when they've been a perennial contender for over a decade would be similar, if not AS big of a deal.

The Florida game has NOTHING to do with the game at Athens and/or at home against Bama. That's stinkin thinkin and part of the culture we still need to eliminate from old KY football.

Fair point. I agree 110% that beating Ga would be huge. (I think it would be bigger than beating Ala.)

TxAM’s win over Ala a couple years ago was clouded by their other losses. We need to beat teams we’re supposed to beat and I suspect we’ll be favored by 3-5 Pts over UF.

I don’t think I have loser mentality regarding GA/Ala. I think we’ll play them both well (barring key injuries.) In a perfect world we win all 3. 2 out of 3 still has potential to be a NY6 bowl. I don’t see us winning 2 of these games without beating UF. Thus, it sets up for being most important. I also think where the game falls on the schedule makes it more important. 5-0 after Fla game will cause lots of national media, etc …

All this is just one fan’s opinion.

Peace

 

[Deeeefense]

The Florida game is what I might call a pivot game. If UK can dominate and come out with something like a 35-14 score or similar that sets up the rest of season as "doable" in the minds of most, and we could find ourselves rolling into Athens the following week undefeated and single digit dogs against the Dawgs.

I have great respect for the Florida program and it's history, but I'm sure even their own fan base realizes that they are just not likely to be very good this year. Just winning a squeaker at home against this team would not bode well for the rest of the season IMO

 

[maroon79]

I like our chances

 

[ganner918]

The Florida game is what I might call a pivot game. If UK can dominate and come out with something like a 35-14 score or similar that sets up the rest of season as "doable" in the minds of most, and we could find ourselves rolling into Athens the following week undefeated and single digit dogs against the Dawgs.

I have great respect for the Florida program and it's history, but I'm sure even their own fan base realizes that they are just not likely to be very good this year. Just winning a squeaker at home against this team would not bode well for the rest of the season IMO

Beat them by 14 at their place last year, agree we need a good comfortable win against them this year.

 

[Girthang]

In spite of the likelihood of Florida not being at the level of Georgia, I still think they will be favored against us at home. If we beat Vandy and win comfortably the following week, we will be getting more than the full focus of every team we play afterward. That's what we want to be able to handle, but this team has yet to play a game together.

Florida still has talent and depth that we don't quite yet. No telling how they'll play at this point.

I think we'll have a great season if we are healthy all the way through, but we still have some very young talent. Can't wait to see how it all plays out.

 

[dvillecatfan]

What's your.problem????? I said SHOULD be!!! I didn't say WOULD! Lighten the f### up. I'm a fan, I don't have to play it one game at a time.

At least ya nailed the last sentence.

 

[m080470]

Should be a win???? Vandy should've been a win last season but guess what...it wasn't. There are NO gimmes and Florida will be much better this season. I hope we do beat them, but I sure wouldn't say we SHOULD win any conference game, we don't even know yet how good the Cats will be....no games have been played yet. Let's just play one game at a time

What's your.problem????? I said SHOULD be!!! I didn't say WOULD! Lighten the f### up. I'm a fan, I don't have to play it one game at a time.

My apologies for my reaction. Obviously my thoughts that a team we've beaten 3 out of the last 5 years, is recruiting well for 2024 but still in rebuild mode, and we are playing at home should be a win because we lost to Vandy for the first time in years last year, is a wildly unrealistic take on my part. I'll do better. I'll also keep any ridiculous hopes about maybe beating UT to myself.

 

[CGblue]

?

He's talking about UT.

 

[KA4Prez]

I actually think it IS Florida.

It's early
UK has smoked Florida recently
It's now, given this year's schedule, a MUST-WIN, if you want any shot at a "special" season

This is what happens when the expectation is 9+ wins. Even the UK fans on here understand just how difficult UGA and Alabama will be.

 

[JASUN74]

?

Haha. I hear you. Bout got me on a knee with that one.