Kentucky to face coach Mark Stoops' alma mater - Iowa football - in Citrus Bowl 2021

LEXINGTON - Mark Stoops will face a familiar foe in Kentucky football's bowl game.

The No. 22 Wildcats will return to the Citrus Bowl for the second time in four years for a matchup with No. 15 Iowa football, the program where Stoops played from 1986 to 1989. The Citrus Bowl, which has first pick of SEC and Big Ten teams after the playoff committee fills the New Year's Six bowls, took Kentucky over Arkansas and Texas A&M.

Kentucky will play in its sixth consecutive bowl game. The Wildcats have won their last three bowl games, including last season's victory over NC State in the Gator Bowl to cap a 5-6 season. The streak started with a win over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl following the 2018 season.

"Mark has done just a phenomenal job with the program there," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "Little personal aspect to it, but it’s going to be a great thrill for us to compete against their football team. We’ll have our hands full, I’m sure of that.”

With a win in the bowl, UK would secure just the third-double digit win season in program history.

"Obviously like most people, naturally I want 10, 11," Stoops said after UK's regular season finale. "That’s human nature. We all want more, but we’re just going to keep on working. We’re going to keep on growing the program, we’re going to keep on recruiting.

"I told you in the summer we were on the right track and I felt good about this team."

A New Year's Day bowl game would represent a successful end to a season had fans dreaming of a possible berth in the playoff after a 6-0 start but had lost almost all its momentum after three consecutive losses to Georgia, Mississippi State and Tennessee.

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Kentucky bounced back with wins over overmatched foes Vanderbilt and New Mexico State in November then closed the regular season on a high note with a 52-21 blowout of Louisville in the Governor's Cup rivalry game.

The bowl game should give Kentucky an opportunity to rewrite the narrative of its season.

October wins over Florida and LSU were thought to be marquee victories at the time, but both of those teams have struggled down the stretch and ended up firing their coaches. Kentucky did not beat an FBS team in the regular season with a winning record, but it did beat five teams eligible for a bowl game at 6-6.

A berth in a high-profile New Year's Day bowl, which will be televised on ABC, could help provide momentum in advance of signing day later this month. Kentucky's 2022 recruiting class is currently ranked 16th nationally by the 247Sports Composite and the Wildcats are still pursuing several high-profile transfers.

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But most of the attention leading up to the game is like to center around Stoops, who earlier this week agreed in principle to a contract extension with Kentucky.

Stoops agreed to his extension amid reports listing him as a possible candidate for the open jobs at LSU, Florida and Oklahoma, but he has also been mentioned as a logical candidate to replace Ferentz whenever college football's longest-tenured coach decides to retire.

Stoops was a three-year letterman at Iowa (1987-89) and started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry (1990-91). Ferentz was an offensive line coach for the Hawkeyes while Stoops was a player.

In an interview with The Courier Journal earlier this week, Citrus Bowl CEO Steve Hogan denied setting up the Stoops-vs.-Iowa matchup was a consideration in the bowl's selections, but he acknowledged the bowl would promote that storyline if the two teams were picked.

"His connection in that case would be fun, for sure, but that’s not one that goes, ‘OK, here it is, that’s the reason to do this,'" Hogan said. "It’s just one you’d have fun with once you actually put that matchup together."

How to watch Citrus Bowl

Date: Jan. 1 (Orlando, Florida)

Time: 1 p.m.

TV: ABC

Streaming: WatchESPN

This story will be updated.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky football headed to Citrus Bowl 2021 and will play Iowa