Since Mark Stoops took over at Kentucky, the Wildcats have been building and getting better every year. In Stoops’ first five seasons, the Wildcats had a record of 26-36 (42 percent).

But the program continued to feel hope as Stoops completed back-to-back seven-win seasons in 2016 and 2017. Now, this year, Kentucky has finally put it all together and they are enjoying on the best seasons in program history. The Wildcats are ranked No. 17 in the nation and they have eight wins to their name – the most wins since 2007.

Senior tight end CJ Conrad has gone through a rebuild before. Before Kentucky football turned around their culture, his high school team did the same. Conrad knows good things take time to groom.

“It’s kind of been my story. When I was a freshman in high school, my team went 0-10, and we grew all the way to a playoff team my senior year. It was the first time in my school’s history. It was kind of the same here (Kentucky). We didn’t make a bowl game, and then just kind of building that up, buying into the vision,” Conrad said.

However, Kentucky isn’t done just yet. They have at least two more games this season, one against the 2-9 Louisville Cardinals to close out the regular season and a bowl game. With the way Kentucky’s season is going this year, they have high hopes on winning their first Bowl game since 2008.