Kentucky football skyrockets up the polls after upset of Florida
The University of Kentucky football program is ranked for the first time since, technically, last season.
Kentucky made its season debut at No. 16 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday. It’s the Wildcats’ highest ranking since the end of the 2018 season, when they finished No. 12 overall in the media’s rankings following a victory over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl.
The Wildcats are the fourth-highest SEC team in the poll, behind No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia and No. 13 Arkansas.
UK was ranked No. 23 in the week two and week three AP polls last year, but it fell out of the rankings following its season-opening loss at Auburn. Kentucky last year never got back into the top 25, and only ended up in the rankings in part because two Power Five conferences — the Big Ten and the Pac-12 — indicated they would not play football in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both eventually played shortened seasons.
The Wildcats on Saturday defeated Florida, 20-13, for the first time at home since 1986, and for just the second time since that season. The Gators, who were ranked No. 10 coming into the meeting, fell to No. 20. It was Kentucky’s 14th win over an opponent ranked in the AP top 10, and its first since a 31-28 win over South Carolina in 2010.
Ole Miss and Auburn were the other SEC teams ranked, at No. 17 and No. 18, respectively.
Head coach Mark Stoops following UK’s win was asked if he’d rather stay unranked going into his team’s next game against LSU.
“(We’d be) the only team in the history of SEC football to be 5-0 and not ranked,” Stoops said with a laugh. “But that’s all right. I do like it. I’d rather stay not ranked. I don’t want to say anything and it come back to bite us.”
UK last week was ranked No. 23 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. It rose to 14th overall in that poll on Sunday, and is the third highest-ranked team in that poll behind Alabama and Georgia.
The Football Writers Association of America/National Football Foundation’s “Super 16” poll had Kentucky ranked 12th after not being ranked previously. It was the third-highest ranked SEC team in that poll.
Kentucky’s highest ranking ever in the AP poll came in week nine of the 1950 season, when it reached No. 3 overall following an 83-0 win over North Dakota. UK improved to 10-0 with that win before falling at Tennessee, 7-0, the next week. About a month later UK defeated No. 1 Oklahoma, 13-7, in the Sugar Bowl.
The Wildcats are 5-0 for the 13th time in school history, and just the fourth time in the last 70 years (1984, 2007 and 2018). UK is 3-0 in SEC play for the fifth time in its history, and for the first time since 2018.
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 2:04 PM.
