![Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) is congratulated by Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier after a series during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 19, 2024 against the Kentucky Wildcats. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3285,h_1847/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01k2yy5xfj20y0w3cen3.jpg "Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) is congratulated by Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier after a series during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 19, 2024 against the Kentucky Wildcats. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Our ongoing "Confidence Meter" series is hitting the home stretch with the final four games on Florida's schedule. After a brutal front end of the schedule for the Gators, the home stretch is actually a very winnable stretch of games that hopefully allows Florida to finish strong.
Starting off the home stretch is Kentucky, which has been a bit of a thorn in Florida's side lately, but has also failed to adapt to the modern landscape of college football.
As a reminder, here is what our previous confidence meters looked like for the 2025 season:
- LIU - 99.9%
- USF - 90%
- LSU - 45%
- Miami - 60%
- Texas - 20%
- Texas A&M - 50%
- Mississippi State - 90%
- Georgia - 55%
Florida should take care of Kentucky
After 31 wins in a row, this series became even in a hurry over the past few years. In the Billy Napier Era specifically, Florida lost to Kentucky in 2022 and was blown out by the Wildcats in 2023 before returning the favor and blowing out Kentucky in 2024.
Mark Stoops is still the head coach at Kentucky, but the profile of the Wildcats has taken a hit, and they have quickly sunk back down into the bottom of the SEC.
Confidence Meter Vs. Kentucky - 70%
On paper, Florida is going to have the far superior roster compared to the Wilcats.
The problem is that Florida could have also said that in 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
But Kentucky felt like a shell of itself in 2024, and one of the advantages the Gators have is the fact that this game is later in the season, and they don't have to take Kentucky's best punch early in the season, only to watch the Wildcats fall apart down the road.
This game is on the road, and it will be the first cold-weather game Florida has to deal with in 2025, but unless the Gators are just completely banged up after the Georgia game or Billy Napier has managed to get fired prior to this game, there just isn't a reason to believe Florida blows this one.
It is still Kentucky, and the scars from the past prevent this confidence meter from being 90%, but this should be a win for Florida in 2025.