One program tore its roster down to the studs this offseason. The other just wants proof it's actually taken a step forward. Kentucky and Missouri close out their SEC slates with almost nothing in common.
Bush’s Picks
UKMIZ
UKMIZ
OverUnder
Best BetMissouri
Missouri brings a functioning program and a returning coaching staff into this one, while Kentucky is still figuring out who its quarterback even is under a first-year head coach. That gap in continuity is the whole ballgame on the moneyline. Back Missouri to win outright here.
Kentucky
+Flipped Notre Dame transfer QB Kenny Minchey from Nebraska
+Added portal help at tackle and secondary
−Just 1 returning offensive starter, 4 on defense
−Picked dead last, 16th, in SEC preseason poll
−First-year coach Will Stein starting from scratch
Missouri
+Finished 8-5 with a bowl trip in 2025
+Deeper portal additions at corner and receiver
+No coaching change, staff continuity intact
−Lost both 2025 QBs, Pribula and Horn
−Three-way QB battle still unresolved entering season
−Tougher 9-game SEC slate could shrink win total
Kentucky fired Mark Stoops, the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, after a 5-7 season that ended with a 41-0 no-show against Louisville. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart turned to Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, and Stein's first offseason has looked like a full teardown. Former starting QB Cutter Boley, who threw for 2,160 yards as a true freshman, hit the portal and landed at Arizona State. Stein rebuilt the room around Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey, whom Kentucky flipped away from a Nebraska commitment.
Missouri, by contrast, isn't blowing anything up. Eli Drinkwitz is back for year 7 after an 8-5 finish that ended in a 13-7 loss to Virginia in the Gator Bowl, a result Drinkwitz himself called "good, not great." The bigger question in Columbia isn't the coach, it's the quarterback. Both 2025 starter Beau Pribula and his backup Sam Horn are gone, leaving Missouri to sort out a three-way battle featuring Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons and former UConn starter Nick Evers.
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MIZ Missouri
That QB uncertainty on both sidelines is exactly why oddsmakers are skeptical of everybody involved here. CBS Sports set Kentucky's season win total at just 4.5 and recommended the Under, while Missouri's number sits at 6.5 with the same lean — largely a byproduct of the SEC's new 9-game grind chewing into projected win totals across the league.
Kentucky Wildcats
Nov 13?vs Florida—
Nov 6?@ Tennessee—
Oct 16?@ Oklahoma—
Oct 9?vs LSU—
Oct 2?@ South Carolina—
Sep 26?vs South Alabama—
Sep 19?@ Texas A&M—
Sep 12?vs Alabama—
Sep 5?vs Youngstown State—
Missouri Tigers
Nov 13?@ Georgia—
Nov 6?vs Texas—
Oct 30?@ Arkansas—
Oct 16?@ Ole Miss—
Oct 9?vs Texas A&M—
Oct 2?vs Florida—
Sep 25?@ Mississippi State—
Sep 19?vs Troy—
Sep 11?@ Kansas—
Sep 3?vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff—
Recent form.
The preseason media poll makes the gap between these two programs pretty stark: Missouri came in 9th in the SEC, Kentucky dead last at 16th. Stein does have a few building blocks — offensive tackle Lance Heard arrived via the portal from Tennessee, and defensive back Jordan Castell came over from Florida — but continuity is basically nonexistent. Kentucky returns just one offensive starter and four defensive starters from a year ago, which is about as close to starting from zero as a Power Four program gets.
Kentucky Wildcats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Missouri Tigers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Missouri's portal additions cut the other direction — cornerback Elijah Dotson came in from Michigan, and Simmons brought Ole Miss weapon Cayden Lee and corner Chris Graves along with him. That's a program adding proven pieces around a real quarterback battle, not replacing nearly everyone at once. By the time Friday, November 20 rolls around, this profiles as a late-season measuring stick for Stein's rebuild against a Missouri team that should still have the deeper roster, even if Drinkwitz is still chasing that breakthrough season everyone in Columbia keeps waiting for.
