Take Two: What the coming 9-game SEC schedule means for Kentucky

Kentucky’s position on a hypothetical 9-game SEC regular season schedule has been clear over the years. The Wildcats viewed the traditional eight-game schedule as beneficial because it allowed the scheduling of a manageable non-conference schedule. That method maximized the program’s chances for wins, and given UK’s historical place in the SEC pecking order the logic made sense.

But Kentucky lost that argument this week when the SEC announced the move to a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026.

Just what does the latest significant change to the college sports experience mean for Kentucky? That’s what Jeff Drummond and Justin Rowland bite off in today’s Take Two feature at Cats Illustrated.

Jeff Drummond: It feels like the SEC moving to a nine-game league schedule was inevitable, despite the concerns of several member institutions, including Kentucky. With the kind of crazy money that broadcast companies are paying for the rights to carry these games and the amount of money that fans are being asked to “pony up” for tickets, the days of playing three or four cupcake games were simply numbered. In time, I think this will be a positive for fans. We’ll get to see more games that matter and see our teams play everyone in the league every two years. If there’s a great player or team in the SEC, you’ll probably get to see them against your school. That’s fun. On the flip side, one has to wonder what schools like Kentucky will do. After reaching new levels of respect from 2016-23, Mark Stoops’ job has become exponentially harder. The component which will require SEC teams to play one game against an ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 team (or Notre Dame) makes matters even more complicated. That means you probably have to keep the Governor’s Cup game with Louisville, which becomes a good news/bad news proposition. I’m sure UK will put on its brave face and say it’s ready to compete against this type of schedule, but it’s hard to see the Cats consistently in the postseason or dreaming about the playoffs under these circumstances. And this might make it even more difficult to hire the next coach when that time ultimately comes.

Justin Rowland: You knew things were moving in this direction. When Mitch Barnhart talked about the topic earlier this summer he said that he knew the financial incentive to adding a ninth conference game was a substantial consideration that would probably impact the conversation. Barnhart never voiced full support for the idea of a nine-game schedule and in fact continued to voice Kentucky’s position in favor of eight. However, he did seem to start to move toward an acknowledgement that this is where things are moving. Without question this is tough news for Kentucky. The Wildcats’ current and recent scheduling approach has been eight SEC games, one game against Louisville, and three games against mid-majors or FCS teams Kentucky is expected to beat. In theory, that allowed Kentucky to basically start 3-0 every single year, with all the other games determining the record. Sure, UK still had to win those games, but they were scheduled to be wins. Now you’re talking about “banking” two sure or likely wins and pushing the number of contested or very challenging games to 10. That will impact bowl eligibility and thus financial payouts. It will determine whether some teams end up on the right or wrong side of .500. It will certainly make a push to the playoff that much more difficult. This is all compounded in terms of Kentucky’s real experience of the SEC’s difficulty because it comes just a few years after the league abolished the divisional format, which had really been beneficial to Kentucky during those 2018-2021 years as well. Abolishing divisions made it harder for Kentucky relative to its SEC peers. Adding a ninth SEC game makes it harder for Kentucky in the overall college football landscape.