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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 04-19-2017, 02:43 PM:

First seven-win season since 2009. First win against a ranked road opponent since 2002. First four-win SEC season since 2006. First season in program history when two players crossed the 1,000-yard rushing mark. First bowl bid since 2010.

And as Stoops sat in front of a TaxSlayer Bowl backdrop after his team’s New Year’s Eve loss to Georgia Tech, the coach looked forward.

“I think as we get a taste for this, we will want more,” Stoops said. “They know that we can win, we’re capable of it. We can play with anybody we line up with. We just got to get better and build on it. I’m sure we will.”

But what does that look like? Here are 3 things that need to happen for Kentucky’s 2017 campaign to be considered a success.

Beating either Florida or Tennessee

Kentucky has played 61 combined games against Florida and Tennessee since 1986. The Cats are 1-29 against the Vols and 1-30 against the Gators.

Florida’s 30-game winning streak against Kentucky is the longest active streak of one team beating another in the NCAA. When Kentucky beat Tennessee 10-7 in 2011, it was the first time the Cats had beaten their southern rivals since 1984.

All that history is known, but next year would be a missed opportunity if one of the two dreadful series didn’t swing back Kentucky’s way. The Cats face both in the comfort of Commonwealth Stadium: Florida on Sept. 23 and Tennessee on Oct. 28.

Five conference wins

You’ve got to throw it back to the Fran Curci days in Lexington for this one. Kentucky hasn’t won five SEC games in a season since 1977. The Cats finished 6-0 in conference play that season, but a 5-3 campaign 40 years later would be a sure mark of success.

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