We continue our countdown to kick-off with our series detailing one biggest concern for every SEC team heading into 2026. Today, we head to Lexington to talk about the biggest concern for the Kentucky Wildcats this season.
Physical health at skill positions & mental health if they start slow
It’s hard to assess what the expectations for Kentucky should be this year. They finally moved on from the longest tenured coach in the conference, Mark Stoops, and hired a 36-year-old wunderkind, Will Stein.
The Wildcats have been a bottom dweller in the SEC for the last several seasons. There was also legitimate concern on what level of commitment the football program would get considering how much money the basketball received in NIL for their roster.
That concern was put to rest almost immediately. The Wildcats did an incredible job in the transfer portal. In total, they added 29 players, including 20 from Power Four programs and 14 from SEC schools.
They brought in several former blue chip recruits whose production hasn’t matched their high school ranking. Still, the Wildcats roster is arguably the most talented it’s been in years. The concern isn’t the talent, it’s the health of that talent.
Guys like CJ Baxter and Nic Anderson are elite talents at running back and wide receiver. Baxter was a former five-star recruit and Anderson was a top-20 portal player in the 2025 cycle. Both lacked in production at their previous stops in the 2025 season due to injuries. Oklahoma running back Jovantae Barnes is in the same boat. Those guys have shown how good they can be when they’re full go, but will that happen this season?
The other big concern is how this team will navigate the first half of the season if it doesn’t go well. Kentucky has a young coach and a ton of new faces they’ll be highly dependent on. They’ll be favored in just two of their first seven games.
Out of the gates they have to face Alabama and Texas A&M in back-to-back weeks in week two and three. Then, they have South Carolina, LSU and Oklahoma on the road. Those feel like five losses. That’s not necessarily something that would shock anyone, but how well will a young, first-year head coach keep the ship afloat if they get off to a start like that?
That’s a big uphill battle to face coming from a program who is used to three-game sets against Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. They’ll get three teams in their first seven that went to the CFP a year ago, and are looking to get there again. And, that’s the biggest concern for Kentucky going into the 2026 season.
