Mark Stoops, buoyed by Kentucky's 10-3 win at Auburn, is holding onto hope. After the last few seasons that have featured a 10-game SEC home losing streak and a 1-13 record against Power Four teams, the head coach is framing the gritty, ugly win as a potential turning point.
The win mercifully snapped a five-game SEC losing streak just this year, 10 games overall, and came against an equally desperate Auburn team that has since fired its head coach, Hugh Freeze. For Stoops, the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, the victory provides a much-needed, if temporary, reprieve.