Starting with Fran Curci’s 10-1 team in 1977 through the ensuing coaching tenures of Jerry Claiborne, Bill Curry, Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss, Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips, Kentucky in 36 seasons won a combined 13 games over teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
UK’s next victory over a ranked foe will be the 13th such win of the Mark Stoops coaching tenure alone.
The Wildcats’ (6-3, 3-3 SEC) next chance to beat a ranked team will come Saturday, when No. 8 Alabama (8-1, 6-0 SEC) visits Kroger Field for a high noon kickoff that will be UK’s 2023 home finale.
Of Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, Stoops said Monday at his weekly news conference “They seem to be getting better and stronger as the year goes on. That will be a big challenge for us, just to match their physicality.”
Alabama’s visit to Lexington will also be the final chance for the 2023 Wildcats to make a statement against an elite-level SEC program.
For all the obvious improvements Stoops has engineered in Kentucky’s football fortunes — and those gains have been extensive — UK success against the top tier of the SEC has proven fully elusive.
Under Stoops, Kentucky is 0-11 against SEC East kingpin Georgia. In those 11 losses to the Bulldogs, Kentucky has been outscored by an average of 34.9 to 12.7.
Since the Stoops era began in 2013, UK is 0-3 versus SEC West kingpin Alabama. The Crimson Tide has outscored the Wildcats by an average of 48.3 to 5.3 in those three defeats.
Overall under Stoops, Kentucky is 12-25 against the AP Top 25. After starting 2-12 in such games from 2013 through 2017, UK and Stoops have gone 10-13 vs. ranked foes since the start of the 2018 season.
