Kentucky Football gets an early bowl projection

New Kentucky Wildcat head coach Will Stein makes remarks as he is introduced at Kentucky on Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Getting to a bowl game in 2026 would be great for the Kentucky Wildcats, especially as they get set to face the second-hardest strength of schedule in college football this year.

Will Stein is set to lead the Wildcats in his first season as their head coach. With such a tough schedule, winning six games would be a major accomplishment and a huge jumpstart to, hopefully, a new and prosperous era in Lexington and Kentucky Football.

Brad Crawford of CBS Sports recently updated his 2026 bowl projections and has the Cats playing in the Cure Bowl against the East Carolina Pirates.

Played in Orlando, Florida, the Cure Bowl was first played in 2014. Kentucky has won two bowl games in Orlando at Camping World Stadium, with both of those wins coming in the Citrus Bowl.

Kentucky beat East Carolina back in 2008 at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, a game best remembered for Ventrell Jenkins running back a 57-yard fumble return for a touchdown that featured a nasty stiff arm.

Of note, the Pirates’ backup quarterback in that game was Joe Sloan, who is now Kentucky’s offensive coordinator.

Last year, the Pirates went 9-4 with a Military Bowl win in head coach Blake Harrell’s first season. If Kentucky wins nine games in Will Stein’s first season, the hype train will be gaining a ton of momentum.