It has been a cloudy offseason for Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football program, and those clouds got darker Friday when the SEC released the preseason media poll. Of 16 teams in the college superconference, the Wildcats were picked to finish 15th, confirming their Kentucky college football betting longshot status.
Six weeks before the Wildcats kick off the 2025 season, BetKentucky wanted to look into the future and create odds on who will patrol the sidelines in Lexington in 2026. We used ChatGPT to help consider potential candidates if – and it is a big if – 2025 is Stoops’ final season at UK.
| Coach | Current Job | Odds | Implied Probability |
| Mark Stoops | Kentucky HC | -200 | 66.7% |
| Jon Sumrall | Tulane HC | +1000 | 9.1% |
| Jamey Chadwell | Liberty HC | +1500 | 6.3% |
| Brian Hartline | Ohio State OC | +3250 | 3% |
| Garrett Riley | Clemson OC | +9900 | 1% |
| Willie Simmons | Florida International HC | +9900 | 1% |
| Barry Odom | Purdue HC | +9900 | 1% |
| The Field | +740 | 11.9% |
A reminder: These odds are for infotainment (or bulletin board) purposes only. You will not find them offered by any of the eight licensed Kentucky sports betting operators.
Last year, the Wildcats were projected to finish 11th in the SEC preseason media poll and wound up 15th in the newly expanded 16-team league. Depending on who does the talking, preseason polls can be considered affirmation for a program or bulletin board material. The latter can go two ways. Such predictions can be posted throughout the football complex to motivate players, or they can become fodder on fan sites for those clamoring for change.
Just a couple of years ago, Stoops was hailed as one of the best coaches in the SEC – Florida State and Texas A&M considered him to fill their vacancies. In November 2022, Kentucky extended Stoops’ deal through 2031, and the next day, the Wildcats lost to Vanderbilt. UK finished 2022 at 7-6, repeated that mark in 2023 and went 4-8 last season, Stoops’ worst campaign since his first team in Lexington went 2-10 in 2013.
And Vince Marrow, a top recruiter who had been with Stoops as an assistant since 2013, left during the offseason to become Louisville's executive director of player personnel and recruiting.
Operators offering the best Kentucky sports betting promos have plenty of futures wagering options and other bets ready for the college football season.
For starters, at BetKentucky, we don’t have the deep pockets that allow some schools to hire consultants to help them land a coach. Also, if AI is going to eliminate jobs in the future, coaching search consultants seems like a good place to start.
This can also be used to liven up stale, midseason coaches’ press conferences. “Coach, ChatGPT says you’d be an ideal candidate to be the next coach at [Insert School Name Here]. You got any comment on that?”
Some names above are obvious considerations. BetKentucky not only reviews Kentucky sportsbook apps, but we also wanted to look a little deeper and identify individuals who could become head coaching candidates as the season progresses. ChatGPT perhaps provided some amusement that when it suggested new Purdue coach Barry Odom as a B-tier coaching candidate. “Experienced and steady, not flashy,” the program said.
Oh, that would sell well across Big Blue Nation.
Other comments included:
There were others ChatGPT mentioned in our exclusive interview as possible candidates, good or bad, but there’s only so much one can write, even in online sites.
The biggest reason Stoops will likely be retained is his contract. Reports indicate his deal calls for Stoops to be paid more than $30 million if the school dismisses him. Even in this era of big-money college sports, that’s still a huge chunk of change for any school to eat.
Based on our current odds, BetKentucky anticipates Stoops to be back in 2026. A winning record is not likely, given the SEC teams (and Louisville) Kentucky must play. Going 4-8 again seems likely, with the possibility for 5-7 at least decent. BetMGM Kentucky Sportsbook listed UK’s season win total at 4.5 wins, with odds of -115 to go over and -105 to win fewer.
Fans won’t be happy with either 4-8 or 5-7. However, that type of record alone won’t lead to a change in the program, especially since Stoops has two 10-win seasons at UK. That counts for 50% of the 10-win or better seasons the Wildcats have enjoyed since they first fielded a football team 110 years ago.
Eschewing any possibility for a negotiated settlement, the most likely reason UK (or Stoops himself) might look to move on is if the fan support crumbles. A nearly empty Kroger Field in late October and November will not be a good look to sell recruits, and if season ticket sales plummet – they dropped by nearly 13% after last season, according to the Lexington Herald Leader – then a buyout could lead to a needed jump in ticket sales
There might even be some pressure applied on the school if there’s a feeling that a top candidate to replace Stoops might be lost to another school. It’s doubtful that would happen should Kentucky finish with a winning record and return to a bowl game, though as we noted above, the odds of that happening are long.
Prior to the release of Friday’s preseason poll, bet365 Kentucky Sportsbook gave Kentucky +30000 odds (or 300-1) to win the SEC this season. That was tied with Vanderbilt for the second-longest on the board.
At Caesars, you can get odds of +4000 that Kentucky will make the College Football Playoff this season. Seven SEC schools have odds of +300 or shorter to make the playoff, while Louisville’s odds are +380.
USA Today photo by Jordan Godfree
Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
Cited by leading media organizations, such as:
