LEXINGTON, Ky. — As Merriam-Webster defines it, a zero-sum game is a “situation in which one person or group can win something only by causing another person or group to lose it.”
When you get down to it, college football is a zero-sum game.
And so it has been in the SEC East. If one group goes up, another group must go down. As traditional powers Florida and Tennessee have fallen on hard times lately, Kentucky has been on the rise, posting a pair of 10-win seasons over the past four years, going 17-17 in the SEC over the same time frame, a definite improvement on the struggles of seasons past.
It’s an interesting backdrop to Saturday’s UK-Florida showdown in the Swamp, at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The early-season battle features two teams hoping to be “the” team that challenges Georgia for the conference championship game berth in Atlanta. It’s also a case of Kentucky hoping to take it to the next level while Florida is hoping to return to its previous level.
Make no mistake, Georgia appears head and dog collars above the rest of the division. The Bulldogs are defending national champions, for heaven’s sake. Last Saturday, Kirby Smart’s team picked up where it left off, sending the poor Oregon Ducks whimpering back to the West Coast after a 49-3 shelling.
But while Georgia has been a consistent divisional title contender, not that long ago Florida and Tennessee all but dominated the SEC East. From 1992 through 2009 either the Gators or the Vols won the division 15 of the 18 years.
Look at Florida. Steve Spurrier went 82-12 in the conference during his glorious “Fun-N-Gun” run under the sun. Urban Meyer was 36-12 over his Gators tenure. Post-Meyer, however, Florida is a mere 54-37 in SEC play. And the Gators have shuffled through three head coaches, discarding Will Muschamp (2011-14), Jim McElwain (2105-17) and Dan Mullen (2018-2021).
Look at Tennessee. The Volunteers are a lowly 37-69 in the SEC since Phil Fulmer departed after the 2008 season. Fulmer was 96-34 in conference play during his time atop Rocky Top. Since then Lane Kiffin (2009), Derek Dooley (2010-12), Butch Jones (2013-17) and Jeremy Pruitt (2018-20) all passed through UT’s revolving door without sustaining success.
Now both schools believe they’ve finally hit on the right coach. Tennessee fans are enthusiastic about Josh Heupel, the former UCF coach whose Vols overachieved at 7-6 last season, his first in Knoxville. And Florida fans are over the moon about Billy Napier, the former Louisiana coach who guided the Gators to a 29-26 victory over No. 7 Utah in his Gainesville debut.
It stands to reason that Florida won’t remain down for long. The state is flooded with homegrown talent. Napier was 40-12 in his four seasons at Louisiana, which gives the impression he might know what to with those football players. And Florida has been busy putting together a top-10 recruiting class for 2023, according to Rivals.
Where does this leave Kentucky? The Cats’ trophy case is much smaller than the one enjoyed by its two divisional competitors, but UK does have a head start in consistency and continuity. Stoops is the longest-tenured coach (10 years) in UK history. Over the past decade, he has built a rock-solid program that has produced four straight bowl victories and the belief that his team can compete with most any opponent.
Over the last four years, Kentucky is 2-2 vs. the Gators. Before that, UK had lost 31 straight games to Florida. UK’s 27-16 win at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in 2018 was its first in Gainesville since 1979. A Kentucky win Saturday night would mark its first back-to-back victories over Florida since 1976-77. UK’s coach at the time: Fran Curci. Florida’s coach at the time: Doug Dickey.
Much has changed since then, including the fact that after years of failures against Florida, Kentucky believes it can not just compete, but beat the Gators. A UK victory on Saturday sends the message that the Cats aren’t going to give up their newfound spot without a fight.
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