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1998 Kentucky

7–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Hal Mumme.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1998, game by game: won at Louisville 68–34; won vs. Eastern Kentucky 52–7; won vs. Indiana 31–27; lost at No. 8 Florida 35–51; lost at No. 22 Arkansas 20–27; won vs. South Carolina 33–28; won at No. 21 LSU 39–36; lost vs. No. 11 Georgia 26–28; won vs. Mississippi State 37–35; won vs. Vanderbilt 55–17; lost at No. 1 Tennessee 21–59; lost vs. No. 22 Penn State 14–26+45−38Won 68–34 at Louisville+34LouisvilleWon 52–7 vs. Eastern Kentucky+45Eastern KentuckyWon 31–27 vs. Indiana+4IndianaLost 35–51 at No. 8 Florida-16No. 8 FloridaLost 20–27 at No. 22 Arkansas-7No. 22 ArkansasWon 33–28 vs. South Carolina+5South CarolinaWon 39–36 at No. 21 LSU+3No. 21 LSULost 26–28 vs. No. 11 Georgia-2No. 11 GeorgiaWon 37–35 vs. Mississippi State+2Mississippi Sta…Won 55–17 vs. Vanderbilt+38VanderbiltLost 21–59 at No. 1 Tennessee-38No. 1 TennesseeLost 14–26 vs. No. 22 Penn State-12No. 22 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5atLouisvilleW 68–⁠3458%
Sep 12vsEastern KentuckyW 52–⁠781%
Sep 19vsIndianaW 31–⁠2770%
Sep 26at8FloridaL 35–⁠5122%
Oct 3at22ArkansasL 20–⁠2741%
Oct 10vsSouth CarolinaW 33–⁠2866%
Oct 17at21LSUW 39–⁠3627%
Oct 24vs11GeorgiaL 26–⁠2843%
Nov 7vsMississippi StateW 37–⁠3552%
Nov 14vsVanderbiltW 55–⁠1781%
Nov 21at1TennesseeL 21–⁠5917%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs22Penn StateOutback BowlL 14–⁠2633%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 26–⁠14 in the Outback Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1998.

Heisman voteTim Couch, fourth

Consensus All-AmericanTim Couch, QB

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
431–⁠375
Coach
Hal Mumme
Elo
1527 +44 this season
SP+ rating
10.3 No. 32 of 112; offense No. 7, defense No. 91
SRS
7.6 No. 33 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mike Leach
Defensive coordinator
Mike Major
Offense
Air raid
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 1Tim Couch QBCleveland Browns
Rd 4Craig Yeast WRCincinnati Bengals

All-SEC

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee8–⁠013–⁠01
Florida7–⁠110–⁠25
Georgia6–⁠29–⁠314
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠316
Mississippi State6–⁠28–⁠5
Alabama4–⁠47–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠5
LSU2–⁠64–⁠7
Auburn1–⁠73–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠72–⁠9
South Carolina0–⁠81–⁠10

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