Lines: Kentucky vs. South Carolina and Florida, over time

[Old School]

Just a little perspective on where things stand, going back to Kentucky's 1993 Peach Bowl team: here are the Vegas lines, and outcomes, for all games Kentucky played against South Carolina and Florida, 1993-2015:

Year, favorite/line, eventual result:

1993 South Carolina by 11.0; Kentucky by 4
1994 South Carolina by 7.0; South Carolina by 14
1995 South Carolina by 12.5; Kentucky by 5
1996 South Carolina by 7.0; South Carolina by 11
1997 South Carolina by 1.5; South Carolina by 14
1998 Kentucky by 14.0; Kentucky by 5
1999 Kentucky by 8.0; Kentucky by 20
2000 South Carolina by 2.5; South Carolina by 3
2001 South Carolina by 21.5; South Carolina by 36
2002 Kentucky by 4.0; South Carolina by 4
2003 South Carolina by 7.5; South Carolina by 6
2004 South Carolina by 13.0; South Carolina by 5
2005 South Carolina by 12.5; South Carolina by 28
2006 South Carolina by 4.5; South Carolina by 7
2007 South Carolina by 4.0; South Carolina by 15
2008 South Carolina by 2.5; South Carolina by 7
2009 South Carolina by 9.5; South Carolina by 2
2010 South Carolina by 5.0; Kentucky by 3
2011 South Carolina by 21.0; South Carolina by 51
2012 South Carolina by 21.0; South Carolina by 21
2013 South Carolina by 21.5; South Carolina by 7
2014 South Carolina by 4; Kentucky by 7
2015 South Carolina by 7.0; Kentucky by 4

Year, favorite/line, eventual result:

1993 Florida by 13.5; Florida by 4
1994 Florida by 24.0; Florida by 66
1995 Florida by 27.0; Florida by 35
1996 Florida by 37.0; Florida by 65
1997 Florida by 24.0; Florida by 27
1998 Florida by 21.0; Florida by 16
1999 Florida by 20.0; Florida by 28
2000 Florida by 22.5; Florida by 28
2001 Florida by 32.0; Florida by 34
2002 Florida by 19.0; Florida by 7
2003 Florida by 10.0; Florida by 3
2004 Florida by 19.0; Florida by 17
2005 Florida by 23.0; Florida by 21
2006 Florida by 26.5; Florida by 19
2007 Florida by 7.0; Florida by 8
2008 Florida by 25.0; Florida by 58
2009 Florida by 21.0; Florida by 34
2010 Florida by 14.0; Florida by 34
2011 Florida by 19.5; Florida by 38
2012 Florida by 23.0; Florida by 38
2013 Florida by 11.0; Florida by 17
2014 Florida by 18.5; Florida by 6
2015 Florida by 3.5; ?

Over 23 years, Kentucky was rarely favored against South Carolina, and rarely won; Kentucky has now won the last two in a row against the Game****************s.

Over 23 years, Florida was favored by double digits every year except one before this year, and this year's line is the lowest in that entire time, and the lowest by at least one touchdown compared to every year except one. In addition, Florida usually won by double digits, often by lopsided margins, but not last year, and they're not predicted to this year, either.

Stoops, in the past two years, has Kentucky in a much better position against those two programs than has been the case throughout most or all of the past 20-25 years. Someone is going to make a post about South Carolina and Florida both not being as good now as they have been in some recent years, but both were bowl teams last year, both were favored preseason to finish ahead of Kentucky this year, both were regarded as teams with better talent, and if Kentucky is going to move up in the SEC East, this is a big part of how that would start: catch and surpass other programs in the division.

This would look a lot better if graphed, but I don't know how to do it and put it on here. (Any takers?)

[Old School]

Some of those Carolina teams that Kentucky beat were decent squads.

Last year's South Carolina team beat Georgia, who went 10-3 on the year; East Carolina, which lost 28-20 to Florida in its bowl game (and only lost to them by 1 TD yesterday); won at Florida. Carolina also beat Miami in the Independence Bowl last year. For what it's worth, they also beat South Alabama, which somehow went to some bowl game none of us noticed.

The 2010 South Carolina team won the SEC East, where undefeated Auburn (the eventual national champions) were favored by only 3.5 points. The Game****************s won 9 games that year, 7 of them against bowl teams: Georgia (Liberty Bowl), Alabama (Capital One Bowl), Tennessee (Music City Bowl), Florida (Outback Bowl), Southern Miss (Beef O'Brady's Bowl), Troy (New Orleans Bowl) and Clemson (Meineke Car Care Bowl), and went to the Peach Bowl. That Alabama team went 10-3 and beat a 11-1 Michigan State team 49-7 in their bowl game, and only lost to national champion Auburn by 1.

The 1993 South Carolina team that Kentucky beat in Columbia opened the season with a win at Georgia and a 1 point loss at Arkansas, and was expected to do well before losing to Kentucky.

The 1992 South Carolina team that Kentucky beat had wins against #15 Mississippi State and #16 Tennessee, only lost at #11 Florida 14-9, and beat Clemson. The loss to Kentucky kept Carolina out of a bowl that year.

[Blue Heaven]

Awesome post as always Old School. Clearly we are on the rise. Looking for tickets to this Saturday's game but a little stiff for the view for me. Thinking about snagging some Auburn tix but up in the air about them. Tickets have really rose in the past few years.