What a difference a big win makes. After losses to South Carolina and Georgia, we were wondering if Kentucky could get to six wins. The Cats’ upset of Ole Miss doesn’t just get them one step closer, it brings some new possibilities back into the picture.

A week ago, most college football writers had Kentucky penciled into the Liberty or Birmingham Bowls. The win in Oxford moved the Cats up a rung, with the Music City, Las Vegas, and Texas Bowls all mentioned as possibilities.

• Brett McMurphy: Texas Bowl vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., Houston)
• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Arizona (Dec. 27, 10:30 p.m., Las Vegas)
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: Music City Bowl vs. Iowa (Dec. 30, 2:30 p.m., Nashville)
• CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Arizona (Dec. 27, 10:30 p.m., Las Vegas)
• Brad Crawford: Music City Bowl vs. Nebraska (Dec. 30, 2:30 p.m., Nashville)

As Crawford writes, the win over Ole Miss makes the Cats’ losses to South Carolina and Georgia more palatable.

“Nebraska’s bowl hopes would have changed significantly had the Huskers not pulled out a tougher-than-expected victory at Purdue,” Crawford wrote. “For the Wildcats, humiliating previously-unbeaten Ole Miss on the road softens the sting of two previous SEC losses to South Carolina and Georgia at home. The Wildcats will be a tough out the rest of the way if their defense continues to perform at an elite level.”

Kentucky gets a chance to rest this week before hosting Vanderbilt on October 12. The Dores are coming off a bye week themselves and host No. 1 Alabama on Saturday. Now 3-2, if the Cats can win two of the next three games vs. Vanderbilt, Florida, and Auburn and take care of business vs. Murray State, they’ll be bowl-eligible for the ninth straight season. Sweep the next three, beat Louisville at home, and/or upset Tennessee or Texas and some even better destinations come into play.

Here is the rest of the schedule with where each team currently sits in The Athletic’s rankings of all 134 teams in the FBS:

• Aug. 31: Southern Miss (No. 127) – 7:45 PM, SEC Network – 31-0 W
• Sep. 7: South Carolina (No. 38) – 3:30 PM, ABC – 31-6 L
• Sep. 14: Georgia (No. 3) – 7:30 PM, ABC – 13-12 L
• Sep. 21: Ohio (No. 102) – 12:45 PM, SEC Network – 41-6 W
• Sep. 28: at Ole Miss (No. 20) – 12:00 PM, ABC – 20-17 W
• Oct. 12: Vanderbilt (No. 51) – TBA
• Oct. 19: at Florida (No. 66) – TBA
• Oct. 26: Auburn (No. 65) – TBA
• Nov. 2: at Tennessee (No. 4) – TBA
• Nov. 16: Murray State – 1:30 PM, SEC Network+/ESPN+
• Nov. 23: at Texas (No. 2) – TBA
• Nov. 30: Louisville (No. 27) – TBA

2024 SEC Bowl Ties/Affiliations

At the unofficial midpoint to the season, let’s revisit the SEC’s bowl ties/affiliations for this season. This year, the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, including the top five conference champions and the next seven at-large teams. You can assume at least a few SEC teams will be among that group. The SEC and Big Ten alternate between the Las Vegas Bowl (2020, 2022, 2024) and Duke’s Mayo Bowl (2021, 2023, 2025); this is the SEC’s year to send a team to Sin City.

Here is the pecking order:

• College Football Playoff
• Cheez-It Citrus Bowl vs Big Ten
• Pool of 6:
  • AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs Big 12
  • Las Vegas Bowl vs Former Pac-12
  • ReliaQuest Bowl vs Big Ten or ACC
  • TaxAct Texas Bowl vs Big 12 
  • TaxSlayer Gator Bowl vs ACC
  • TransPerfect Music City Bowl vs Big Ten
• If needed:
  • Birmingham Bowl vs American Athletic
  • Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs AAC or ACC

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