Bowl Projections Roundup Week 7: Kentucky Wildcats crash College Football Playoff party

Saturday was one of the most magical days in the history of football in the Bluegrass. Kentucky 35, No. 10 LSU 34 in overtime, with the Power K back on the field and Big Blue Nation pouring onto the turf at Kroger Field when it was over.

For the second straight Saturday, Will Stein’s team won 35-34 in overtime. For the second straight Saturday, Stein passed on the extra point and went for two. Kenny Minchey ran a draw straight up the middle untouched, and the field was blue in about four seconds. The SEC fined UK $500,000 for the field storm. Something tells me J Batt is fine with that trade.

And it never should have gotten to overtime. Adam Zouagui missed two field goals that would have tied it, LSU led 27-24, and the Tigers had the ball late. The defense got it back, Kentucky went 63 yards in 1:25, and Zouagui buried a 33-yarder with 16 seconds left.

Add a 55-yard punt-return touchdown from Brock Coffman, zero Kentucky turnovers, and an LSU run game held to 94 yards on 36 carries, and you get a night this fan base will talk about for a long time.

Now, a confession. Every single week when I sat down to figure out where this team was headed, my gut answer was PLAYOFFS. Said loudly, in my best Jim Mora voice. Then I would take a breath, act like a responsible adult, and type out something sensible about a December trip to Florida or Nashville.

Well, I’m done being responsible. The national guys are finally saying it with me.

Kentucky is 5-1 (3-1 SEC), and the polls finally noticed. The Cats went from unranked to No. 15 in the AP Top 25 and jumped from No. 25 to No. 17 in the Coaches Poll. LSU fell 12 spots to No. 22.

The resume is real. Kentucky owns two top-10 wins (at Texas A&M and LSU), two SEC road wins, and a lone loss to Alabama, now No. 6. ESPN’s Heather Dinich noted UK sits near the top of the country in strength of record, a metric that has historically lined up with the playoff field.

A few nuggets from a historic week:

• Kentucky is the first team in FBS history to win consecutive games by one point in overtime.

• Stein is the first Kentucky coach to start 5-1 in his first season since 1913.

• Preseason win totals for this team sat around 4.5 wins. They have five wins on October 11.

Kentucky is the first team in FBS history to win consecutive games by one point in overtime.

Stein is the first Kentucky coach to start 5-1 in his first season since 1913.

Preseason win totals for this team sat around 4.5 wins. They have five wins on October 11.

CBS Sports, On3 and ESPN all have Kentucky in the 12-team College Football Playoff field this week. Read that sentence again. I’ll wait.

• CBS Sports (Brad Crawford): No. 11 seed at No. 6 Indiana, first round

• On3 (Andy Staples): No. 10 seed

• ESPN (Heather Dinich): 12th in her projected field

• ESPN (Max Olson): No. 10

• ESPN (Jake Trotter): No. 10

• ESPN (Paolo Uggetti): No. 11

CBS Sports (Brad Crawford): No. 11 seed at No. 6 Indiana, first round

ESPN (Heather Dinich): 12th in her projected field

Crawford put it simply: Stein and Kentucky have officially entered the CFP zone. Staples credited Stein with changing the culture immediately and stacking wins like a team that can compete for a spot.

There is one catch on Dinich’s projection. If the playoff were set today, she has Kentucky getting bumped by the highest-ranked Group of 6 champion. And ESPN’s panel is split, with three of 11 experts putting UK in the field. Still, two of those three have the Cats inside the top 10.

The CBS projection would send Kentucky to Bloomington for the first round. A playoff game against Indiana. I’m not going to pretend I know how to process that yet.

However, not everybody has jumped on the bandwagon. Athlon Sports projects Kentucky against USC in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 at Allegiant Stadium. A New Year’s Eve trip to Vegas would not exactly be a punishment.

For perspective, here is where the national projections had Kentucky just one week ago, after the South Carolina win:

• On3 (Brett McMurphy): Gator Bowl vs. Pitt

• ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Birmingham Bowl vs. Tulane

• ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Music City Bowl vs. Minnesota

• CBS Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. UCF

• College Football News: Birmingham Bowl vs. Memphis

Back in the spring, CBS had this team in the Cure Bowl against East Carolina. Six months later, the same outlet has Kentucky in the playoff. That is the Will Stein effect in one sentence.