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Kentucky

Wildcats · SEC

Head coach Will Stein Year 1 with Kentucky

Year-1 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.19 W vs. preseason expectation

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
4.5
Expected wins
4-8
Proj record
2 to 8
Win range (90%)
#72 (45–95)
Final rank (90%)
0%
Make playoff
0%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

0%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Vanderbilt
    Home · Oct 24
  • vs Alabama
    Home · Sep 12
  • vs Louisville
    Home · Nov 28
  • at South Carolina
    Away · Oct 3
  • vs Florida
    Home · Nov 14

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2026

28 score
  • Quarterback 1% (1/5 )
  • Offensive line 55% (11/20 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 30% (13/32 )
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 39% (13/31 )
  • Secondary 47% (11/20 )
  • Special teams 12% (2/6 )

Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.

Portal additions · 2026

-0.1 rating

33 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.

  • Jordan Castell DB ← Florida 80 impact
  • Shane Carr WR ← Southern Utah 60 impact
  • Jamarrion Harkless DL ← Purdue 59 impact
  • Tyler Thomas DE ← South Alabama 57 impact
  • Dominic Wiseman DT ← South Alabama 52 impact
  • Ahmad Breaux DT ← LSU 41 impact

Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.

If QB1 is out (Cutter Boley)

GIE projects a 2.8 rating drop and a 11.0pp shift in playoff probability if Kentucky loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=1 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 42.5% 83th — strong
  • Red-zone TD rate 22.6% 95th — elite
  • 4th-down aggression 28.1% 16th — bottom tier
  • Late & close 6.0 yds/play 74th — strong

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Kentucky: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Kentucky sits at 5–7 after a shutout loss to Louisville in Week 14, a 41–0 defeat that underscores the Wildcats' struggles down the stretch. The team's current GIE rating of 1.8 places them 66th nationally—a position that reflects…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.