Kentucky took its bid to go 6-0 for the first time since 1950 to overtime before A&M killed that dream with a 20-14 win. It was the kind of loss that makes fans furious, coaches crazy, and players heartbroken. It meant … well, it actually didn’t mean very much in the big picture.

A 5-1 Kentucky team goes into its bye week still holding control of its own fate in the SEC East. The Florida team that Kentucky beat in Week 2 clocked LSU on Saturday, and could help the Wildcats. The South Carolina team that UK humbled in Week 5 delivered a win over Missouri that also could provide some separation.

Granted, Georgia waits down the line — Nov. 3, to be exact. But if Kentucky can beat Vandy at home and Missouri on the road, they’ll enter that game 7-1, likely back in the nation’s top 15, if not the top 10, and capable of giving the Bulldogs a dogfight — no pun intended — in Lexington.

Moreover, it’s not like an unlikely grab for the SEC title is the only potential goal for the Wildcats.

This is a team that hasn’t had a winning SEC season since 1977. That’s the longest such drought among Power 5 teams. And it hasn’t played in a New Year’s Day bowl game since Jan. 1, 1999, when Penn State beat Tim Couch and the Wildcats in the Outback Bowl.

That long-awaited winning SEC season is all but guaranteed. The New Year’s Day bowl game, well, it’s certainly still on the table.

Kentucky figures to be a solid to heavy favorite against Vanderbilt, at Tennessee, at home against Middle Tennessee, and to close the season at the dumpster fire that is Louisville. If the Wildcats care take care of that business — and granted, taking care of that business is going to mean amassing more than the 8 first downs and 179 total yards they had Saturday, they should be fine.

Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and head coach Mark Stoops are taking some heat for giving the ball to Benny Snell only 13 times, and none in overtime in College Station. Gran already has said he “probably” should have given Snell the ball on the critical 3rd-down call in which Wilson was sacked. They don’t figure to face many stout run defenses against the teams listed above. If UK doesn’t find itself going anywhere near an overtime, in-depth play selection discussion becomes a whole lot less pivotal.

Outside of the gruesome foursome above, Kentucky’s other two remaining games — at Missouri on Oct. 27, and at home against Georgia the following week — would be two opportunities to show some growth from this tough loss. Missouri’s offense will be too good for UK to grind out an ugly, take-no-chances win. Semi-beleaguered Wilson will have to make some plays in that game, and will likely draw on his experiences from this weekend to be better prepared for crunch time.

Georgia, well, it’s a different kettle of fish. Georgia has a mass of talent at every position, and will present Kentucky with a game in which UK not only needs to play clean and error-free, but make a couple of extra plays. Kentucky’s chances of hanging with or knocking off UGA have to be improved after playing an A&M team in a match-up that left Kentucky scratching and clawing to have a shot at the end.

Granted, nobody wants to lose games. Every one of the 14 FBS teams that started Week 6 without a loss would gladly have kept that unbeaten status.

But for Kentucky, after the heartbreak of Saturday night subsides, their SEC fate is still in their own hands. As long as the hands of Snell remain full and Wilson can process the tough loss as a growth experience, there’s every reason to think Kentucky still makes program history and has a great shot at the kind of goals that haven’t been mentioned in Lexington with a straight face in many years.