© Jeff Blake | USATSI
Kentucky hosts likely the SEC’s worst team on Saturday in Arkansas. It is hard to see the Hogs winning an SEC game this year and even if they squeak one out in there somewhere they probably won’t have more than 1 win in league play. Since the year 2000, Kentucky has played 22 SEC games against teams that finished either win 1 or 0 conference wins. They have gone 17-5 in those games with an average winning margin of 13.2 points in those 17 wins.
But more important is that Mark Stoops is a perfect 5-0 in those type of games in his tenure:
2000 (2-9)
Vanderbilt (1-7): LOST 24-20
2001 (2-9)
Vanderbilt (0-8): WON 56-30
2002 (7-5)
Vanderbilt (0-8): WON 41-21
Mississippi St (0-8): WON 45-24
2003 (4-8)
Vanderbilt (1-7): LOST 28-17
Mississippi St (1-7): WON 42-7
2004 (2-9)
Vanderbilt (1-7): WON 14-13
2005 (3-8)
Ole Miss (1-7): LOST 13-7
Mississippi St (1-7): WON 13-7
2006 (8-5)
Mississippi St (1-7): WON 34-31
Vanderbilt (1-7): WON 38-26
2009 (7-6)
Vanderbilt (0-8): WON 24-13
2010 (6-7)
Ole Miss (1-7): LOST 42-35
Vanderbilt (1-7): WON 38-20
2011 (5-7)
Tennessee (1-7): WON 10-7
Ole Miss (0-8): WON 30-13
2012 (2-10)
Tennessee (1-7): LOST 37-17
2014 (5-7)
Vanderbilt (0-8): WON 17-7
2015 (5-7)
Missouri (1-7): WON 21-13
South Carolina (1-7): WON 26-22
2017 (7-6)
Vanderbilt (1-7): WON 44-21
Tennessee (0-8): WON 29-26
Now, while Stoops is 5-0 in those games, his average winning margin in those 5 games was just 9.