No, Will Levis didn't make it into the top ten in the Heisman Trophy vote last December. Too bad, perhaps, that the vote came before the Music City Bowl in Nashville, when a sans-Levis Kentucky might has well have been running the old single wing against Iowa. Without their quarterback, the Wildcats were completely helpless against a rugged Hawkeye defense that smothered Kentucky in a 21-0 shutout. We can't recall the absence of one player making such a profound difference in a team's performance last season.

That reflects the tenuous tightrope walked by the Wildcats in the Mark Stoops era, during which the team has been mostly competitive. Kentucky backers aren't complaining, as they would have to go back decades to find a Wildcats coach who has been able to sustain success in Lexington as long as Stoops. For the most part, it's been done with minimal offense and stout defense.  When the offense goes below minimal, however, as it did last season without Levis, we're not even sure even Mean Joe Greene and the old Pittsburgh Steel Curtain defense could make that much of a difference. The structure of the team helped the Under hit in a hilarious 12 of Kentucky's 13 games...

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Kentucky's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the SEC season.

SEC preview: Conference winner | Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | LSU | Mississippi State | Missouri | Ole Miss | South Carolina | Tennessee | Texas A&M | Vanderbilt

2023 Kentucky at a glance

• Last Year: 7-6 SU, 8-5 ATS, 1-12 O/U
  
• Returning Starters: Offense 6; Defense 5
• Win Total: 7 (Over -140, Under +120)
  

What do you need to know about Kentucky before locking in your SEC futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see SEC futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!