While Kentucky Is Now Consensus No. 20 In Polls, Analysts Still Doubt
It will be a top 20 matchup in the Swamp Saturday night as Florida jumped 27 spots from their preseason AP Poll ranking after beating then #7 Utah on Saturday. The Kentucky Wildcats held their spot at #20 in the Coaches' Poll, while gaining one spot up to #20 in the AP Poll, after beating Miami(OH).
This game is highly anticipated by the Wildcat fan base and will be played at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN. Many analysts are predicting a comfortable Florida victory. ESPN's Matchup Predictor, which uses the ESPN Football Power Index, gives Florida a 54.8% chance of victory. SEC Network analyst Roman Harper, while speaking on the Paul Finebaum show, had this to say about the matchup:
"It's going to look dominant. I'm not trending toward a blowout, but it is in the Swamp and they do play better, they do play differently. Use me as ammo, if you need it, I'm feeding you right now, Kentucky Wildcats, but if you want to win this game, you've got to stop Florida up front. Kentucky looked a little softer, I hate using the word softer, but they were not as physical running the football."
Harper went on to say:
"Tell Coach Stoops I said it to motivate them. Good. Is h, y'all did not push everybody around, they were a little soft up front last week. That is not what I'm used to seeing out of a Kentucky offensive line."
He summed it up with this:
"Florida is going to win this game, and I think they're going to win it handily."
It looks like Coach Mark Stoops and company have more motivation to show the world that he has built a steady program, not just a one season wonder. I cannot wait to shut the Gator fans and all of the doubting analysts up.