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1988 Kentucky

5–⁠6 (2–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jerry Claiborne.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1988, game by game: won vs. Central Michigan 18–7; lost at No. 7 Auburn 10–20; lost at Indiana 15–36; won vs. Kent State 38–14; lost vs. No. 12 Alabama 27–31; lost at No. 19 LSU 12–15; won vs. No. 11 Georgia 16–10; won vs. Southern Illinois 24–10; won vs. Vanderbilt 14–13; lost vs. Florida 19–24; lost at Tennessee 24–28+24−21Won 18–7 vs. Central Michigan+11Central MichiganLost 10–20 at No. 7 Auburn-10No. 7 AuburnLost 15–36 at Indiana-21IndianaWon 38–14 vs. Kent State+24Kent StateLost 27–31 vs. No. 12 Alabama-4No. 12 AlabamaLost 12–15 at No. 19 LSU-3No. 19 LSUWon 16–10 vs. No. 11 Georgia+6No. 11 GeorgiaWon 24–10 vs. Southern Illinois+14Southern Illino…Won 14–13 vs. Vanderbilt+1VanderbiltLost 19–24 vs. Florida-5FloridaLost 24–28 at Tennessee-4Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsCentral MichiganW 18–⁠759%
Sep 10at7AuburnL 10–⁠2023%
Sep 17atIndianaL 15–⁠3635%
Sep 24vsKent StateW 38–⁠1457%
Oct 1vs12AlabamaL 27–⁠3140%
Oct 15at19LSUL 12–⁠1522%
Oct 22vs11GeorgiaW 16–⁠1035%
Oct 29vsSouthern IllinoisW 24–⁠1085%
Nov 5vsVanderbiltW 14–⁠1368%
Nov 12vsFloridaL 19–⁠2459%
Nov 19atTennesseeL 24–⁠2840%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 28–⁠24; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
217–⁠208
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Elo
1499 +2 this season
SP+ rating
10.1 No. 32 of 102; offense No. 56, defense No. 19
SRS
3.1 No. 44 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 7D.J. Johnson DBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Ivy Joe Hunter RBIndianapolis Colts

All-SEC

1 first team

First team

  • Randy HolleranLBAP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠28
LSU6–⁠18–⁠419
Georgia5–⁠29–⁠315
Alabama4–⁠39–⁠317
Florida4–⁠37–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠45–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠45–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠55–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠53–⁠8
Mississippi State0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.