Kentucky Football: 5 reasons to be optimistic about 2019 season

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LEXINGTON, KY – NOVEMBER 03: Jordan Jones #34 of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrates after a goal line stop in the fourth quarter of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Kroger Field on November 3, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. Georgia won 34-17. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

2. A heavy home schedule favors the Wildcats

When your team is doing well, fans begin to turn out in droves and that is exactly what has happened to the Kentucky Wildcats.

The fans are excited about football for the entire season — something that hasn’t happened in quite a while. I mean, you saw the numbers, this team hasn’t been this successful in decades. The Wildcats’ 2019 schedule can be seen below.

Home games are capitalized and conference games have a * beside them.

Kentucky’s 2019 Schedule:
Aug. 31 – TOLEDO
Sept. 7 – EASTERN MICHIGAN
Sept. 14 – FLORIDA*
Sept. 21 – at Mississippi State*
Sept. 28 – at South Carolina*
Oct. 5 – open
Oct. 12 – ARKANSAS*
Oct. 19 – at Georgia*
Oct. 26 – MISSOURI*
Nov. 2 – open
Nov. 9 – TENNESSEE*
Nov. 16 – at Vanderbilt*
Nov. 23 – UT MARTIN
Nov. 30 – LOUISVILLE

This team only has four true road games in 2019. What does that mean? That even if they were to lose all of their away games, a clean home sweep would give them a 9-4 record and a 4-4 SEC record. Of course, it is very unlikely that they will lose to a team like Vanderbilt in 2019 — a team that has very little if any identity heading into the new season.

The hardest game for this team at home will obviously be Florida, as they have to follow up to finally beating the Gators for the first time in three decades. On the road, this team has to head to Georgia and that won’t be easy for a large number of reasons. Overall, Kentucky’s home favored record is a big deal heading into 2019 and it will help them avoid the drop off that has plagued this program every time they put together a decent enough season.

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