It’s February, which means it’s the perfect time to talk about Kentucky playing in the College Football Playoff. Yes, I know Kentucky only won four games last season, and the Cats have a first-year head coach facing one of the most difficult schedules in college football. Doesn’t matter. We’re talking about it because one of the biggest voices in college football is saying it’s a possibility.

Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is second only to Kirk Herbstreit on ESPN’s college football broadcasting pecking order. He also hosts a daily morning show on JOX-FM in Birmingham with Cole Cubelic, and has his own ESPN podcast, Always College Football.

In a recent edition of ACF, McElroy spent time talking about teams that typically won’t be in the offseason CFP discussion. He shared ten “sleeper” teams that he thinks could surprise college football fans because each team has quarterback clarity, a defined identity, and a schedule that provides a CFP path. Kentucky is one of those teams that meets all of the criteria.

“They’re a sleeper because they are starting a new chapter. They’ve moved on from Mark Stoops, they hired Will Stein, the former Oregon offensive coordinator, as their head coach,” McElroy said. “That in itself is a pretty significant philosophical shift. Stein is viewed through an offensive lens, and Kentucky’s identity under Stoops was defense, and toughness, and running the football.

“Now, Stein will do all those things too, but it’s going to be a little bit more quarterback-friendly. At quarterback, Kentucky landed Kenny Minchey from Notre Dame. They flipped him over to Lexington, and that’s a major storyline because it signals the new staff’s direction. What will the 2026 identity look like? Can Kentucky maintain all the physicality that they’ve played with over the last few years while modernizing the offense enough to win games that you need to maybe score 30-plus? That’s the big question.

Kenny Minchey was neck-and-neck with CJ Carr last summer. Now, Carr is the preseason Heisman frontrunner. If Stein can get Minchey to reach that ceiling, everything’s on the table. But the schedule complicates things.

Kentucky has a Difficult SEC Schedule

A pessimist sees road trips to Texas A&M, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee as immovable obstacles. McElroy views them as an opportunity for growth, particularly that early home game against Alabama.

“The schedule is brutal, but it’s going to force Kentucky to become real,” McElroy said. “There is no easing your way into this schedule. So, if Stein’s offense can create the same type of efficiency that he created at Oregon, even if it’s not crazy explosive, and if Minchey can provide steady quarterback play, then Kentucky might be able to steal a couple games at home and maybe win enough to get to striking distance of the playoff in a 12-team world.”

We are not too naive to know that everything has to go UK’s way to be in the CFP conversation in November. However, it’s February. The time to dream big is now, and with Will Stein leading the program, no dream is too big.

“Kentucky’s lane (to the CFP) is narrow, but it does exist,” said McElroy. “You better take care of business at home, you better be tough on the road, and hope that your new quarterback and coach partnership can grow into being a really nice partnership by the time November rolls around.”