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UK, U of L, WKU all eyeing bowl bids

joseph russell, messenger-inquirer, owensboro, ky.
·4 min read

Nov. 17—With two weeks remaining in the regular season, college football teams in the commonwealth are looking to close their campaigns on a positive note as they head into the postseason.

Kentucky, Louisville and Western Kentucky are all bowl eligible for the second consecutive season, and each team's final two outings — including the rivalry contest between UK and U of L to close the regular season — hold a tremendous amount of importance in dictating their landing spots.

Experts and pundits have been cranking out their bowl projections for weeks now, but the picture is beginning to get just a little bit clearer.

However, there's no consensus — and there won't be — until the season draws to a close. Even then, nothing is certain until the final bowl pairings are released.

For Kentucky (6-4), the Wildcats' bowl projections place them anywhere from Las Vegas to Dallas to Orlando, and some predictions even put them as close as Nashville. No matter where they go, though, the Cats will be playing in their program-record seventh consecutive bowl game, seeking a fifth straight postseason victory.

UK entered the 2022 campaign with high hopes, looking to compete for an SEC East division title, but those expectations have fallen to the wayside as the Cats have failed to live up to their hype. Four losses in the last six games dropped Kentucky out of the Associated Press Top 25, where they were ranked as high at No. 7 earlier in the year.

Instead of playing in a New Year's Six bowl — as would've been the hope when the season began — the Cats have been predicted to appear in one of the postseason's earliest games on Dec. 17 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Slated to face a Pac-12 squad, Bleacher Report has the Cats taking on Oregon, while USA Today envisions a matchup against Utah.

After all, Kentucky loves the "roll the dice" mantra, especially in recruiting, so a trip to Viva Las Vegas just seems right.

CBS Sports predicts UK facing Baylor in the Texas Bowl in Dallas on Dec. 28; Athlon Sports predicts Kentucky facing Notre Dame for the Cats' second trip in three years to the Gator Bowl on Dec. 30; and The Athletic envisions a contest against Illinois in the Music City Bowl in Nashville for what would be UK's first bid to Nissan Stadium since 2017.

For Louisville (6-4), the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Maryland, is a popular destination among experts.

Athlon and the Athletic both have the Cardinals facing the American Athletic Conference's East Carolina, while USA Today predicts a matchup against Tulane — all in the Military Bowl. However, Bleacher Report picks U of L to play Iowa in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 29, and CBS Sports projects Louisville to face Oregon State at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 30.

After starting the year 2-3, the Cardinals won four games in a row — including a 48-21 romp over No. 10 Wake Forest — before falling 31-16 to No. 12 Clemson on Saturday.

Western Kentucky (7-4) could potentially find itself competing in the Big Easy, though, with Bleacher Report pitting the Hilltoppers against Coastal Carolina and CBS Sports predicting a WKU versus Louisiana Lafayette matchup in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 21. After that, though, it varies.

Athlon Sports and the Athletic see WKU playing on the first day of bowl season, though with different landing spots — the Cure Bowl against C-USA foe Marshall in Orlando and the Bahamas Bowl against Eastern Michigan, respectively, on Dec. 16. USA Today projects a game against host South Alabama in the LendingTree Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on Dec. 17.

For the Hilltoppers, it will be their fourth consecutive bowl game and their eighth in the last nine seasons. Since making the leap to FBS competition, WKU will have reached a bowl game in nine of 14 years. Western had a middling start to its season but has won four of its last five games to become bowl eligible.

All three teams have achieved major accomplishments in their own ways this season, even if their hopes of winning conference titles won't be reached. Still, earning bowl eligibility isn't an easy feat, and Kentucky, Louisville and Western Kentucky fans will all get the chance to root on their teams in the postseason.

The only thing left up in the air is where those games will be.