2003 Kentucky Wildcats football team

Before coaching Kentucky Rich Brooks played and coached at University of Oregon and then coached for the St. Louis Rams. Brooks was able to keep Kentucky maintained because he could rely on his playmakers Andre Woodson at quarterback. Brooks was upset by the way the last two seasons (2010,2011) ended but he believes that Mark Stoops is able to make changes for the team. Mark Stoops is now the coach of Kentucky and he has brought the team to many bowl games. Brooks believes in Stoops to make changes in the team and have them improve because the SEC is no joke.[1] Mark Stoops has said before, “The key to our success has been hard work, but also finding a new way to think about these big games. For too long it’s been about knowing you will compete in those games and then expecting to win those games”. Mark Stoops believes that his team can play if they really figure out how to play and how to win. [2]

Formally known as CommonWealth Stadium now has its name Kroger Field, which was changed in 2017, due to Kroger buying the naming rights. The stadium was opened September 15, 1973. The stadium was closed in 1999 due to construction with 40 suites being built, 10 on each side. Before the suites were added there was a total of 57,800 seats and then 67,606 after construction. Since 2011 a lot of changes have been made to the stadium including LED scoreboards, a custom audio system, a new press box, loge box seats, club seats, recruiting room, suites, concourses, bathrooms, and exterior lights. After this construction the number of seats were back down to 61,000. Kentucky has played over 206 games and have a .529 winning average at Kroger Field. [3]

Starters are marked with an asterisk (*).

Football has always been a big part of American culture and especially southern culture. A large part of football is surrounded by where the games are played and how many people will attend. Normally when there is a football game it is either played at Kentucky's home field or at the opponents field. Most fans have created a theory of "home field advantage" and this states that when Kentucky plays a game at Kroger Field they are destined to have a more up beat game because more fans will come especially students since it is at their university. Including many people in the state of Kentucky and Lexington will attend. With the crowd being more hype it gets the players more hype to play better and win for their team. Rankings also play a big role in conferences. The AP Poll is the Associated Press Poll that determines weekly rankings for the top 25 teams in the NCAA, which includes all conferences. The rankings are collected by numerous sportswriters and broadcasters across the nation. Home field advantage proves that it is true because from 2000-2019, the University of Alabama played an average of 7.1 times per season compared to 5.4 games away from Tuscaloosa. There is such uneven scheduling in college football that teams actually play at home more so they can possess a higher chance of winning with the home field advantage. However, bowl games in college football are played at a neutral site so there is no home field advantage for winning. An even or odd number of fans can show up for those bowl games and their team can still loose. [4]