LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The record shows Louisville has not won a football game against Kentucky since Nov. 25, 2017. It also shows that when the Wildcats attempt to stretch their dominance over the Cardinals to six in a row, the game will be played in Lexington, not Louisville.
For some observers, that is not sufficient reason to predict that UK will have a stronger football team than U of L this season.
Those people include the 2024 Athlon Sports college football yearbook gurus. Their product recently arrived on the news stand.
I paid my $14.99 and quickly uncovered 10 Predictions That Will Annoy or Excite You.
Here goes.
1. Louisville is ranked higher than Kentucky.
Athlon ranks all 1,340 FBS teams. OK, there are only 134, but I can remember when there were 107 (1994) or 96 (1982). We all know there are actually about 10: Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Texas, Notre Dame ... you know the list.
This is how Athlon ranks the local squads:
- Louisville: No. 24
- Kentucky: No. 38 (behind Memphis?)
- Indiana No. 71: (behind UNLV?)
- Western Kentucky No. 84: (behind Texas State?)
Considering the Cardinals have not toppled the Wildcats since Lamar Jackson left town and that Jeff Brohm's squad finished last season on a three-game losing streak, I'm intrigued that the Athlon editors placed the Cardinals ahead of UK as well as ahead of Iowa, Auburn, Florida and national runner-up Washington.
2. Cards ranked fourth in Atlantic Coast Conference.
Louisville played in the ACC title game last season, losing only a single regular-season league game in the rain on a strange Saturday night in Pittsburgh.
Athlon does not book the Cards for a return trip to the ACC title game. It ranked Brohm's team behind (in order) Florida State, Clemson and Miami in the league, which now includes SMU (picked seventh), California (10th) and Stanford (17th and last).
Athlon put the Cards in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte against Rutgers. That's the game where, if Brohm wins, he'll get a bucket of mayonnaise poured on his head.
3. IU's Curt Cignetti ranked fifth-best coaching hire.
This season will begin without any local coaches on the Hot Seat, which is not surprising considering Indiana moved to replace Tom Allen with Cignetti after last season.
IU was one of 31 FBS jobs to turn over, and Athlon said IU athletic director Scott Dolson did well replacing Allen.
The only guys ranked ahead of Cignetti are (in order): Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Willie Fritz (Houston), Jonathan Smith (Michigan State) and Jon Sumrall (Tulane).
That means Cignetti is ranked ahead of the hires made by mega-rich programs like Texas A&M, Michigan and Washington. Don't tell their boosters.
4. Kentucky picked 12th (behind Florida) in the Southeastern Conference.
Remember that with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, there are 16 teams in the SEC this season — and the Longhorns (second) and Sooners (eighth) take their spots ahead of Mark Stoops' program.
In fact, Athlon put UK in the Music City Bowl against Wisconsin after the Wildcats finish ahead of South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
5. Three Wildcats named first team all-SEC
Can a team have three first-team all-SEC performers and finished 12th? Athlon believes so.
With Deone Walker (defensive tackle) and Maxwell Hairston (cornerback), Kentucky joined Georgia and Oklahoma as the only schools with two players on the SEC first-team defense. Add receiver Barion Brown as the top kickoff return guy and that's a lot of talent for the league's 12th-best squad.
6. Three Cardinals named first-team all-ACC.
Only Miami (seven) and Florida State (five) had more players named to Athlon's all-ACC first team than Louisville.
The Cards are represented by defensive end Ashton Gillotte, cornerback Quincy Riley and receiver Caullin Lacy, a transfer from South Alabama.
7. Indiana not picked to make bowl game.
Cignetti has famously been quoted saying that he has never experienced a losing season and that he does not intend to start now.
Athlon disagrees.
It ranked the Hoosiers 17th in the 18-team Big Ten, ahead of Purdue. No bowl prediction for IU. No first-team all Big Ten players. Athlon vs. Cignetti in Year One.
8. WKU picked second in Conference USA.
Only Liberty stands between the Hilltoppers and first place in CUSA. Five Hilltoppers are named first-team all league, led by receiver Michael Mathison. And WKU is booked for the New Orleans Bowl against Louisiana. WKU's big non-conference game is only at Alabama in the Aug. 31 season opener.
9. Louisville quarterback room ninth-best in ACC.
Athlon ranked the position groups within every league — and it is not convinced that either Tyler Shough or Pierce Clarkson will be the answer for Brohm.
The Cards' QB group is ranked ninth-best in the league. That is the lowest of the seven position group rankings for U of L. The Cards' top unit is the secondary, which ranks fourth.
10. Kentucky linebacker group ninth-best in the nation.
Kudos to Stoops. Kentucky's linebackers are the only local position group to rank among the top 10 in the nation. The UK linebackers sit at No. 9, just behind Ohio State and Penn State and ahead of Oklahoma State.
UK's linebackers are led by three seniors — J.J. Weaver of Moore High School, D'Eryk Jackson and Georgia transfer Jamon Dumas-Johnson.
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