The 2010 Kentucky football season had its highs and its lows.

The Cats couldn’t end the Florida or Tennessee streaks and couldn’t capitalize on a wide open race in the East division of the Southeastern Conference.

On the other side, Kentucky defeated rival Louisville for a fourth consecutive year and ended its losing streak against South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier and his SEC East champion Gamecocks.

However, perhaps the Cats’ biggest accomplishment of all, going to a fifth straight bowl game, the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., seems to be getting swept under the rug by many.

After finishing the regular season with a 6-6 overall record and 2-6 mark in conference play, many fans – and players – were disappointed they couldn’t get over the proverbial hump in 2010 and will now have to wait nine long, grueling months until they can run out of the tunnel at Commonwealth Stadium again for the beginning of the 2011 season.

But by earning a fifth straight bowl game appearance, the Cats find themselves in elite company. Kentucky is one of just 29 teams in the country to go to five straight bowl games and one of only five teams in the SEC to accomplish such a feat.

“It’s crazy how expectations are now,” Phillips said Sunday afternoon prior to UK’s announcement of playing in the BBVA Compass Bowl. “Our expectations were always high. It was the other people outside who use to come say, ‘Just get us to a bowl.’ Now, our people expect to be in the Sugar Bowl and there’s nothing wrong with that. We do too. It’s a process in getting there. … We’re in the process right now.”

Five years ago, the thought of going to a bowl game was a radical idea only the most optimistic Wildcat fans could envision. Today, Cats fans not only expect to make a bowl game, they are disappointed when the bowl game isn’t as big as the year prior.

“I really believe our fans should be mad about where we’re going because wherever it is –  we’re going to be happy about going there – but they should expect more from us,” junior wide receiver Randall Cobb said. “Am I disappointed? No. I mean we’re going to a bowl game. Not many teams get to go to bowl games. Things didn’t go our way like we expected them to and we wanted them to, so we just have to go out there and make sure we get a win and prepare for next year.”

One of the most important parts in going to a bowl game for Kentucky is the opportunity for that next group of Cats to get more practice reps in and further gel with their teammates and learn how to prepare for opponents.

“It’s big time,” Phillips said. “For us to continue to grow the program the way we talk about, these extra practices are key for us. We’re able to get almost a whole spring practice with these young guys and try to develop (them), especially the quarterbacks. It gives them a better grasp of things. It gives them a chance to come out in the spring and compete.”

Two of those players are quarterbacks Morgan Newton and Ryan Mossakowski, the heir apparents to Hartline. The two signal callers will battle for the 2011 starting job throughout the spring and into next fall. The practice they get in December because of the bowl game will not only give them an opportunity to improve but a chance for the coaches to evaluate the two.

“(The practices) are big,” Hartline said. “I don’t know sometimes if they understand it just because throughout the whole season they don’t get too much. To get a lot now is to prepare for the spring and prepare for their future. I think it’s good for them and it’s great that they can have these types of opportunities. They just have to take advantage of it. I think they’ve been playing well. They’ve been trying to move fast and create things quickly. Obviously the sky is the limit for those two.”

So while UK didn’t end all the streaks it wanted, the improvements that aren’t clear to the naked eye continue to exist. Of the Cats’ 12 losses the past two seasons, six have been by seven points or less, including a three-point loss this season to Auburn who will be playing in the national championship game.

“There’s no disappointment on this football team,” Phillips said. “These guys love each other, they love being around each other. You guys saw the enthusiasm (today at practice) that they have for this game.”

Donald Russell granted release: A talented and bountiful group of Kentucky tailbacks will be dwindled by one. Sophomore tailback Donald Russell has requested a release from UK in order to transfer and Phillips has granted that release.

“One thing is, we want guys to be happy,” Phillips said. “We want guys to be put in a situation where they can be happy. Now, do we try and talk our kids into staying? Yes. But we also, once it’s engrained in their mind and their hearts, we also have to give them a chance to explore other options.”

Russell, alongside senior tailback Derrick Locke, freshman Raymond Sanders and fellow sophomore CoShik Williams, gave the Wildcats a strong backfield that was used effectively with Locke having to sit out four games due to a shoulder injury.

Russell ranks third on the team in rushing yards with 308 and a pair of touchdowns. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry on the season.

Porter questions future: Defensive tackle Elliot Porter is going through some homesickness issues, Phillips said Sunday. Porter, who had originally committed to LSU, came to Kentucky at the beginning of the season but is unsure of his future with the Cats.

“He’s a little homesick and we’re helping him get through that,” Phillips said. “Nothing is official yet, but we’re trying to help him get through that homesickness.”

Cobble could play in bowl game: Phillips also spoke Saturday about the possibility of redshirt freshman defensive tackle Mister Cobble seeing playing time in the bowl game. Cobble, who has been academically ineligible this season, will have the opportunity to play in Birmingham if he is cleared academically.

Because he used a redshirt his freshman season, the Cats could not redshirt him in 2010.

“We’re hoping (Cobble) takes care of business and he has been taking care of business for the most part,” Phillips said. “It’s not like we’ve eaten up a year. He’s already lost it anyway so we’re not worried about him losing a year. We’re worried about him getting some quality reps, that if he’s able to help us he’s ready to help us.”

Following the season-ending suspension of defensive tackle Mark Crawford, Cobble could be a key replacement on the defensive front.

“That’s huge (if he could play in place of Crawford),” Phillips said. “We’re trying to take up as much of his time as we possibly can to make sure this thing works out. I think it benefits him and it benefits us. He’s had two years of having not played. I think it’s only a benefit if we can get him, even if it’s one game, we have to get him this game here.”