The Wildcats have always been more of a basketball power rather than a force to be reckoned with on the gridiron in the SEC.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
SEC 2011-12 Football Previews: Kentucky Wildcats<\/strong> Yet, former coach Rich Brooks has fielded competitive squads over the last several years; UK has been to a bowl game every year since \u201906. <\/p>\n Former offensive co-ordinator Phillips took over after Brooks retired and Kentucky meandered to a sub-.500 season and an uninspired bowl showdown with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t get easier in the Bluegrass State. The SEC is always a buzzsaw and Phillips loses much of his offensive talent. The Wildcats must lean on a defense that returns all its 2010 starters save one. <\/p>\n The fact it is also a relatively weak year in the East division is helpful; former offensive guy Phillips will have to work wonders with new personnel in order for Kentucky to pleasantly surprise.<\/p>\n The top 11 tacklers on defense from 2010 return. Studs like LBs Danny Trevathan and Winston Guy look to be among the division\u2019s best this season. The secondary should also improve, with all the vets back and underrated speed (starting S Mychal Bailey is a sub-4.4 guy).<\/p>\n Many of the skill players are gone on the other side of the ball, but a salty offensive line corps should smooth the transition. Four of the five starters are back from last year, and all current starters are upperclassmen, including new senior RT Billy Joe Murphy. Guards Stuart Hines and Larry Warford, in particular, are good ones. <\/p>\n Senior P Ryan Tydlacka can pin opponents deep in their end.<\/p>\n Veteran starting pivot Mike Hartline is gone; the new starter, be it junior Morgan Newton or one of a couple different true freshman, will be hard-pressed to fill Hartline\u2019s shoes. UK also loses last year\u2019s do-everything dynamo Randall Cobb to the NFL. It\u2019s nice having a seasoned O-line, but Kentucky could still have trouble putting points on the board. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Rich Brooks was a predictable and respected commodity in Lexington \u2013 his successor Phillips, now in his second year holding the clipboard \u2013 is still perhaps being analyzed by the powers that be.<\/p>\n Respectfully, last year was Kentucky\u2019s first losing season since 2005. Considering the Wildcats\u2019 recruits and football support are a notch below other SEC powers, that track record is impressive and speaks to Brooks\u2019s coaching acumen.<\/p>\n We know full well that defense often gets the job done in football and this seems to be doubly true in the SEC. On that front, UK is in good shape with lots of experience coming back. <\/p>\n Kentucky could find its wheels spinning on offense, however; road games at LSU, South Carolina and Georgia will definitely test this.<\/p>\n Still, UK plays most of its games at home in 2011 and maybe they can grind enough games out for yet another bowl appearance. <\/p>\n This becomes infinitely more likely if the offense can find some effectiveness.<\/p>\n 9\/1\/11\t 9:15 PM ET\tWKEN NCAA football preview guide for the 2011 Kentucky Wildcats NCAAF betting season. NCAA football gambling guru James Hayes weighs in with his college football picks, and BCS National champion cappers analysis\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":29337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[50296,44530,49957,50637,50638,50639,2856,31311,1121,15668,50098,19417],"class_list":["post-40802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2011-sec-football-previews","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-kentucky-football-predictions","tag-kentucky-gambling-odds","tag-kentucky-schedule","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-sec-football-predictions","tag-sec-odds","tag-sec-picks","tag-wildcats-bcs-futures","tag-wildcats-predictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40802"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40816,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802\/revisions\/40816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCoach: <\/strong>Joker Phillips
\n2010 Record: <\/strong>6-7
\nKentucky Gambling Odds from BetOnline.com to win BCS: +5000<\/strong>
\n Kentucky Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nTeam Strengths<\/h3>\n
Team Weaknesses<\/h3>\n
2011-12 Kentucky Football Prediction: 7-6<\/h3>\n
2011 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule<\/h3>\n
\n9\/10\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tCMICH
\n9\/17\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tLOU
\n9\/24\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tFLA
\n10\/1\/11\t 8:00 PM ET\t @LSU
\n10\/8\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t @SOCAR
\n10\/22\/11 12:00 PM ET\t JACST
\n10\/29\/11 12:00 PM ET\tMISST
\n11\/5\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tMISS
\n11\/12\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @VAN
\n11\/19\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @GEO
\n11\/26\/11 12:00 PM ET\tTENN<\/p>\nClick here to check out MORE 2011 college football previews for the 2011-2012 NCAA Football Season!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"