In seasons past, Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats have often been overlooked, and they thrived off the motivation it gave them.
However, the Wildcats received some respect this year and were ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time in over 40 years. This led many to question how the team would handle the newfound respect and high expectations.
Yet, that respect was short-lived when the majority of the national media gave Kentucky no shot to beat Florida in Week 2, including SEC Network analyst Roman Harper, who called the Wildcats “soft”.