Rich Brooks will step to the podium Tuesday morning August 5th at 10:00 a.m. under the east stands of Commonwealth Stadium in the Wildcat Den, to greet the statewide media throng that covers the Wildcats and talk about his up-and-coming football team’s 2008 outlook, as well as the SEC and college football in general.

Tri State Sports Media Service will be in attendance and begin our 4th year of covering the Wildcats with this column, as well as various other media sources.

The old school coach is entering his 6th season as the leader of Wildcat football fortunes, and coming off a two year run of back-to-back bowl winning seasons that hasn’t been accomplished since the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant roamed the sidelines of old Stoll Field in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Anyone, who has followed UK football over the last 50 years would have to admit that the program is on about as solid a ground from all angles as at anytime since those days of “The Bear”.

Yet, the football gurus of the SEC as well as all national media outlets think the Cats of 2006 and 2007 were simply a brief two-year fluke.

No one is giving the Cats or Brooks much love. Most pre-season magazines are predicting that Wildcat football fortunes will return to somewhere between the doormat of the SEC and mediocrity at best. Several have even predicted that UK will pull only 3 wins out of its 12 game schedule.

I disagree, maybe I’m biased or then again maybe I have a little more in-depth analysis.

Basically, four reasons come to mind for my optimistic predictions for UK football in 2008:

# 1 - There is a different type football talent across the depth chart at Nutter Center starting out this Tuesday afternoon. Especially in the trenches of the offensive and defensive lines, which is where games are won in the majority of college football contests.

# 2 - I’m convinced after watching 2006 & 2007 that Brooks and his staff have turned out to be a perfect fit for turning the UK program around and battling its past image. The coaching staffs age in the business has ended up providing valuable experience in counter acting that image with players and fans. They have slowly developed a positive can-do mind set in the UK football player and everyone associated with the program.

# 3 - There’s been too much emphasis put on the quarterback situation and other offensive personnel that have graduated. Every college program in America loses players every year. Remember when Tim Couch left for the $$$$$ of the NFL and everybody thought what are we going to do. Well, I think little-known Dusty Bonner took the Cats bowling that year didn’t he? I’m betting that green as they are, with Randy Sanders and Joker Phillips at the helm, this year’s offense will get as much or more accomplished than the year after Tim Couch when Bonner lead the Cats to the post season. I just hope and pray that this year’s post-season celebration is anywhere but the Music City Bowl and Nashville.

# 4 - The schedule, I’ll get more in depth later with my analysis of the entire schedule but the prognosticators are giving teams like Louisville, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Miss. State, and South Carolina much more love than UK without really breaking down the teams’ returning personnel and taking into account UK’s newfound confidence at Commonwealth Stadium.

In closing, I’ll reflect back on a phrase that Eddie Sutton used to use quite often in basketball circles he traveled in what I think fits the 2008 football Wildcats perfectly.

“There is more than one way to get to the throne room ” Sutton used to preach. Translated in football terms, you don’t have to throw for 300 yards a game to win a college football game.

I’m betting that “Ole Blue” aka Rich Brooks is not whistling Dixie to the SEC when he stated last week at the SEC media days that UK is here to stay as a competitive football program for 2008 and the future.

Practice starts Tuesday.