I saw this coming; the SEC expansion was a clear statement to the perennial bottom feeders in the conference; either “pony up” the NIL money, or suffer the consequences. Vanderbilt came as close to “stepping up” as it possibly could and enjoyed one of its most successful seasons, yet finished 12th out of 16. UK finished 15th out of 16, and only MSU finished lower.
Stoops saw it coming too, which explains his earlier 2023-2024 offseason challenge to UK fans and alumni for NIL funding. I do not like Mark, so I am not sympathetic to his and UK’s situation, and THE CYCLE’s post is 100% correct ……. UK will return to its rightful bottom-feeder position where it resided for decades prior to Stoops arrival.