On Monday afternoon, the Associated Press released their 2018 regular season awards for the South Eastern Conference. In regards to their head coach of the year, the award went to Kentucky’s Mark Stoops.
Stoops led the Wildcats’ to their first winning season (in SEC play) since 1977 and had his team ranked in the AP Top-25 for 11 straight weeks from Week 5 – Week 15 and finishing 16th. Kentucky has also been ranked in the College Football Playoff each week, finishing 14th.
Before the season began, many had Kentucky as a six-win team. Las Vegas even set the over/under for Kentucky’s wins at 5.5. However, the team surpassed that mark in Week 8 with a win over Vanderbilt.
Their stellar 9-3 finish to the regular season record granted the Wildcats an appearance in the 2019 VRBO Citrus Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions, scheduled for New Years day.
While Stoops won the coaching award, he wasn’t the only Wildcat to be recognized.
Junior running back Benny Snell, senior offensive guard Bunchy Stallings and senior linebacker Josh Allen (unanimous) were named to the SEC All-First team. Allen also received the AP’s SEC defensive player of the year award.
Defensive backs Derrick Baity and Mike Edwards fell short of the recognition, despite playing award-worthy senior seasons.