A Mud Bowl Miracle? UK vs #1 Florida

A Kentucky (2-0) win today versus Florida(3-0, 1-0 SEC) will probably be celebrated as the "Mud Bowl Miracle". It would be a miracle because Kentucky last defeated Florida on November 15, 1986 (I was 22 DAYS old) by a score of 10-3. Since that cold, gray day in November the Florida Gators have defeated the Cats 22 straight times with the latest loss being an embarassing 63-5 romp in the "Swamp". Today Lexington, KY has its own version of the swamp, albeit a muddy swamp, after several consecutive days of heavy rain, and Kentucky fans are hopeful that a Mud Bowl Miracle may be in the works.

The streak will not be easily broken today because Florida will be arriving in the Commonwealth with arguably the most talented team during the streak. Florida is ranked #1 in the country and are the defending BCS National Champions. Florida is riding a 13-game win streak into the Bluegrass, the longest in the storied programs history.

Kentucky last faced a #1 ranked team in 2007 when UK upset #1 LSU 43-37 in triple overtime in the game known as the Bluegrass Miracle. Kentucky is 3-7 all-time versus #1 ranked teams.

Kentucky is hungry to play spoiler to the consensus favorite to repeat as BCS National Champion. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said, “I know our seniors know they’ve never beaten (Florida). It’s pretty obvious. They know the whipping we took last year was of giant proportions. I don’t think (the streak) is a factor. Some of the guys that will be playing weren’t even born. Obviously, it shows the dominance that Florida has had during that time span over Kentucky football.”

Maybe Tim Tebow provided UK with the best pep talk, "They weren’t on those teams. They’re a new team and they’re going to put that past them and say, ‘That’s not us. Those (other) teams did that. And this isn’t the Gator team that beat all those Kentucky teams. We’re going to go and show we’re a new team and we’ve got something to prove.’ "

The showdown at the Mud Bowl will take place at 6:00 PM EST on ESPN 2.

Go Cats!!! My OPTIMISTIC prediction: UK 35 UF 27!!!