While some did not expect Kentucky to be one of the top SEC teams this season, Mark Stoops had different aspirations.

Stoops believed his Wildcats were going to be much improved. And so far, the Kentucky coach has turned out to be right.

During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday, Stoops looked back at how he felt about his team heading into the 2018 season.

“Just very pleased with our team,” Stoops said. “This summer, as we were going through Media Days and all those things, I was confident about this team, I felt good about them the whole time. I knew we had some maturity, some guys that had been around for a while. We had a few guys to replace, and quarterback was the big one. But I felt good about them.”

Stoops said that he has wanted his team to keep the same routine this week and treat Saturday’s game against Georgia like any other. But he acknowledged that his week is a little bit different.

“When you’re competing for an SEC East championship and playing at home, that’s a different situation than we have every week,” Stoops said.

The Wildcats are 0-5 against the Bulldogs since Stoops became the coach at Kentucky. Georgia has won eight straight meetings between the two schools. Kentucky last beat Georgia in 2009.

The Bulldogs lead the all-time series against the Wildcats, 57-12-2.

Georgia and Kentucky are set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.