Iowa and now Kentucky are doing very well when you compare the pool of high school talent that is easily accessible to them. The wild card for both of them is this fact. (Which Georgia has as well - just so much larger of course) is Kentucky is now starting to get kids from Kentucky who WANT to go to Kentucky and play for the name on the Jersey. It reminds of countries at war. When you are fighting for your home you fight harder, longer and your emotions come into play to protect what you love and live for - your school and state! For so many years any talented kids from Kentucky or even the immediate area who were good players never considered Kentucky in reality. Kentucky previously rarely won the battle for the best players in the state! For years U of L even dominated UK in that respect. That fact has changed and young men choosing Kentucky are no longer told you can't win at UK or you can't do bigger things at Kentucky!
Many reasons for this from the past - the asset of UK Being an SEC member was both an advantage and a negative. Kentucky has had to over come 50 plus years of poor commitment to football - which that is no longer the case! Even though Florida dominated UK for so many years - that tide has changed and when UK plays Florida now I believe the team AND the fans are no longer holding their breaths and saying how are we going to lose this time! We go into that game with a chip on our shoulder now and want to beat Florida and have the confidence we will beat them! Life long UK fans know exactly what I am saying. We still haven't erased that emotional response when we play Tennessee - hopefully this year will be the year that changes too! Tennessee has come into our game with the pyschological advantage thinking no matter what, that they are destined to beat Kentucky. The game two years ago was a perfect example of how that has turned out for the last 75 years!
This could be a great year - but many predict it will be a mediocre year - the reason it can be a good team is we have quality players and coaches who know they are good players and have shown them that Kentucky is a good football program now and they are a part of it! Our depth has improved tremendously - but injuries are still a huge part of the game. Just last year injuries was the primary reason we finished 7-6 instead of 11-2! The transfer portal has shown us that good players recognize and understand what I am saying - as they have chosen to join our program instead of others! Yes other teams have injuries - but the championship teams have the depth to overcome injuries! We are getting closer and closer, but we still need the injury bug to leave us alone to win big!
Go Big Blue!
