Where does Kentucky's strength of schedule stack up in college football?

Mark Pope has a lot of pressure riding on him and the Kentucky football program hwading into the 2025 season. Following a mediocre 7-6 season in 2023, where the Wildcats went just 3-5 in SEC play, Kentucky followed it up with a 4-8 (1-7 SEC) record last season. That has added some pressure for Stoops and the Wildcats that hasn't been felt like this likely ever in Stoops' tenure as he heads into his 13th season in Lexington.

Heading into this season, though, fans haven't been able to get very familiar with the 2025 squad. The program has been very quiet, and it seems Stoops and his staff are taking the "put your head down and go to work" approach this off-season. The potential for a bounce-back season is there with what Stoops has brought in, but it's hard to tell the exact potential with how little of the team we have seen this spring and summer. It's going to be hard for Kentucky football to combat that pressure this season, not only because of the amount of pressure on their shoulders, but also the very, very tough schedule that stands in their way.

The schedule is so tough, that according to Phil Steele, the Wildcats have the 9th-hardest schedule in the country heading into the season. Kentucky starts the tough SEC play quickly in Week 2, facing Ole Miss at home on September 6. The Wildcats will get a bit of an early break when they play Eastern Michigan the following week before a bye week that will then lead into a road game at South Carolina. Immediately after, Kentucky will travel to Athens to face the powerhouse Georgia Bulldogs. The Wildcats will get another bye week after that one before welcoming in another projected top team in Texas. The tough tests don't stop there, as Kentucky will take on rival Tennessee in Kroger Field the next week, then will head on the road to Auburn. The high-level toughness begins to die down after the Wildcats take on Florida in Lexington. Kentucky will then end the season playing Tennessee Tech, at Vandy, and at Louisville.

Four SEC programs, Oklahoma (#7), LSU (#6), South Carolina (#4), Arkansas (#3), and Mississippi State (#2) rank ahead of Kentucky in Steele's rankings of the college football's hardest schedules in 2025. Looking at the schedule, getting bowl eligible for the ninth time in the Stoops era after ending the streak of eight-consective bowl games in 2024 is going to be a very stiff challenge.