The 2025 Kentucky Football season kicks off on Saturday vs. Toledo. How does the KSR crew think the Cats will do in a pivotal year for Mark Stoops? Surely, we’ll be closer with our predictions than we were last year. After a disappointing 2024 campaign, only a third of our panel believes Kentucky will go […]
The 2025 Kentucky Football season kicks off on Saturday vs. Toledo. How does the KSR crew think the Cats will do in a pivotal year for Mark Stoops? Surely, we’ll be closer with our predictions than we were last year.
After a disappointing 2024 campaign, only a third of our panel believes Kentucky will go bowling this year. The bulk of us believe the Cats will finish 5-7, with Jacob Polacheck being the lone soul to predict a 4-8 campaign. After calling for Kentucky to upset Texas last season, who can blame him for being conservative!
Everyone believes Kentucky will open the season with a win over Toledo and take care of business vs. Eastern Michigan and Tennessee Tech. Three of us have the Cats starting the year 3-0 with an upset over Ole Miss. No one was brave enough to pick the Cats to shock the world with wins over Georgia and Texas, but some of us have Kentucky pulling off some SEC upsets. The majority of us have Kentucky beating Vanderbilt in Nashville in the penultimate game of the season and, sadly, losing to Louisville in the Governor’s Cup.
Check out our picks and reasoning below in visual and written form.
KSR’s 2025 Kentucky Football Season Predictions
Comments from the panel…
Tyler Thompson: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
It speaks to game week optimism that I have Kentucky finishing 5-7 and not 4-8. After last season, I’m keeping my expectations very low for this season, in large part due to the brutal schedule. I do think Kentucky will be better — and motivated — but the schedule does them no favors. The month of October could be brutal, but I have the Cats bouncing back with a three-game winning streak in November, including victories over Florida and Vanderbilt. That means bowl eligibility will come down to the Governor’s Cup. I’m still not really over last season’s embarrassing loss to the Cards, so right now, I’m predicting a loss at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. I’d love to be wrong.
Drew Franklin: 6-6 (2-6 SEC)
Win over Florida: Florida in Lexington in November? It hasn’t happened in 35 years. If it’s cold enough, Kentucky can catch Florida off guard between the Georgia and Ole Miss games. Watch for an upset of the Gators and a fourth Kentucky win in five years in the series.
Win at Vanderbilt: Kentucky can’t lose three in four years to Vanderbilt.
Win at Louisville: The Governor’s Cup is a tough pick for me. Louisville wins if Kentucky doesn’t have anything to play for. But if Kentucky enters that game with five wins and needing a sixth, it’s a great underdog spot for Mark Stoops. I have Kentucky with five going into that game, so I like the Cats to win the rivalry game to clinch a bowl birth.
Nick Roush: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
This prediction is based on history. Kentucky and Ole Miss play close games, and the Rebels are bringing a young team to Kroger Field, a place where Stoops’ teams have been at their best early in the season. Beamer has Stoops’ number. The Tennessee game will turn into a rock fight and will be a close game down the stretch, but I can’t predict a win. Auburn could be a disaster this season, but Kentucky only has one win at Auburn since 1961. The Wildcats will enter the season finale at Louisville with bowl eligibility on the line. That’s a winnable game, but history tells us this series comes in waves. If you win one, you’re probably going to win three or four in a row. Unfortunately, I’ve gotta predict that the historical trend to continue.
Adam Luckett: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
The Cats get off to a hot start by handling Toledo and ending that long SEC home losing streak with another upset win over Ole Miss in Week 2, but the brutal schedule hits hard after a 3-0 start. The Cats suffer a long losing streak during SEC play in October and November before a couple of wins occur late in the schedule. UK will be playing for a bowl berth in the Governor’s Cup again.
Jack Pilgrim: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
Kentucky will be a better football team, one that reflects the blue-collar culture that made Mark Stoops the winningest coach in program history — not the entitled, complacent bunch that thought “hungry” meant actually hitting up the Kroger Field concession stand during a game. The Wildcats will get back on track again in 2025 after losing their way, but that doesn’t mean the talent will be enough to go bowling in a loaded SEC with a tricky schedule. Swing-game losses vs. Ole Miss and at South Carolina lead to a 2-6 start before finishing strong at 5-7. Is it enough for Big Blue Nation to buy back in?
Zack Geoghegan: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
The schedule does Mark Stoops no favors this season as he looks to rediscover his motivation as head coach. The ‘Cats will sneak past a good Toledo team in the opener before tripping up in the first big game of the season, a home loss to Ole Miss in Week 2. Kentucky will pick up easy wins against Eastern Michigan and Tennessee Tech, along with a must-have victory on the road against Vanderbilt. In the middle of it all, UK will avoid a six-game SEC losing streak by upsetting Tennessee at Kroger Field, but it won’t be enough to reach the six-win mark in the end as Louisville picks up a second straight victory in the Governor’s Cup to close out the regular season.
Jacob Polacheck: 4-8 (0-8 SEC)
After going out on a limb and picking Kentucky football to beat Texas, I’m a lot more cautious with my picks this year. I’m picking Kentucky to go undefeated in non-conference, while losing every single SEC game. Like last season, I’m projecting a 4-8 year, but this time they get the win vs. Louisville.
Shannon the Dude: 6-6 (2-6 SEC)
While fan expectations for this season may be low, Mark Stoops has been at his best when the pressure is on. This season will be his most important one yet. Making a bowl game with this schedule is going to be tough, but not impossible.
Phoenix Stevens: 6-6 (5-3 SEC)
The Zach Calzada experiment is going to be very short-lived. Kentucky is going to start the 2025 season 0-2 before Mark Stoops makes a change behind center, making Cutter Boley the starter the rest of the season. After getting settled in against Eastern Michigan, Boley proves that he’s QB1 as the Cats march into Columbia, SC, and take down Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks. Only Georgia and Texas will get the best of Kentucky the rest of the way, meaning Boley goes 6-4 as the starter heading into the bowl game. Regardless of whether Kentucky wins that bowl game or not, vibes will be riding high into 2026 thanks to Boley and Stoops.
Category: General Sports
