Kentucky Forced by NCAA to Surrender Its 2021 Victories

© Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union/USA TODAY NETWORK

The NCAA has sanctioned the Kentucky Wildcats football program. As a result of rules violations, the NCAA placed Kentucky on probation for 2 years and compelled the football team to vacate all 10 of its victories in the 2021 season, including a win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the sanctions tarnish the legacies of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart and football head coach Mark Stoops.

Kentucky's Transgressions

The NCAA announced on Aug. 2 the imposition of sanctions on the UK football program. In the words of the NCAA, the sanctions stem from "at least 11 football student-athletes receiving payment for work not performed between spring 2021 and March 2022." Receipt of those impermissible benefits rendered those student-athletes ineligible to play, and because 8 of those 11 student-athletes did play during the 2021 season, the NCAA compelled the Wildcats to renounce all of their wins in that season.

The “no-show” jobs from which Kentucky players benefitted were with UK HealthCare. In its press release, the NCAA stated, "[N]o staff member in the athletics department knew or reasonably should have known about the payment for work not performed." But the Herald-Leader isn't buying that, questioning how "11 football players organically discovered a way to access the UK HealthCare system and acquire jobs that paid but did not require work without someone helping them."

In statements released to the media, UK administrators pointed out that they uncovered and reported the violations to the NCAA.

Separate violations occurred in Kentucky's swimming program.

2021 Victories Vanish

UK had a fantastic season in 2021, finishing with a 10-3 record. The Wildcats began the season with 6 straight wins, including triumphs over LSU and Florida, and, as noted, Kentucky capped the season with a bowl victory.

Stoops has led Kentucky to two 10-win seasons—in 2018 and 2021. The Herald-Leader describes those campaigns as "the twin pillars upon which his legacy of success at Kentucky most relied." Now one of those pillars has been "knocked down," but not before Stoops received a lucrative deal that will result in him being compensated over $9 million in 2024.