2009 Kentucky Wildcats Betting Recap
The Kentucky Wildcats repeated a pattern that is becoming awfully familiar to online betting specialists: play fundamentally sound football, beat a team or two you aren’t expected to beat, lose some games you ought to win, but in the end make it to a bowl game.
After patiently waiting out the effects of the probation years, head coach Rich Brooks built Kentucky from a perennial bottom feeder to a respectable SEC program that consistently reached the postseason. The 2009 campaign, which was his final one at the helm in Lexington, was no different. The Wildcats began the year 3-0 including their third straight win over in-state rival Louisville, marking their longest winning streak since the series resumed in the 1990s. The Wildcats stunned Auburn on the road, winning there for the first time in 25 years. They also managed to beat Georgia in Athens despite being outgained almost 2 to 1 for the game.
But for all the highs, there were as many lows. Though the program has surely improved over the past four seasons, the ‘Cats were still outgained by seven of the nine BCS conference teams they played. Inconsistency and then injuries forced them to play freshman Morgan Newton at quarterback and the team struggled to move the ball at times. Though they ultimately attained their fourth straight bowl bid, they remained unable to end their losing streaks to Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina. The low point of the season came when Mississippi State upset the ‘Cats in Lexington by pounding them for 347 yards on the ground in a 31-24 decision.
In the final analysis, any season where Kentucky is bowl bound is a successful season. Fans will have to wait until 2010 or beyond to see if the team can take the next step and start beating the upper-echelon teams in the SEC.
2010 Preview to Bet Kentucky Wildcats
You can’t blame NCAA football betting experts if they’re unsure what to expect from Kentucky in 2010. Gone is feisty veteran head coach Rich Brooks; in steps former offensive coordinator Joker Phillips. How this change at the top will play out on the field remains to be seen.
Quarterback is still a question mark as senior Mike Hartline and sophomore Morgan Newton enter fall in a battle for the job. Whoever the quarterback might be, he will have a talented group of backs and receivers lead by dual-threat man Randall Cobb and running back Derrick Locke. The bad news is the entire offensive line is new.
Sports betting analysts have grown accustomed to good defense from Kentucky. That might change in 2010, though: Only six starters return on defense. Fortunately, three of four starters return in the secondary. This might allow the defense to take more chances to make up for the loss of personnel.
If the Wildcats beat Louisville to open the season, they’re almost assured a six-win season and a bowl for the fifth straight year. If there was ever a year to end the quarter-century losing streak to Tennessee, this would be the year.