Where Kentucky football is ranked in top 25 in advance of SEC opener vs. Florida

Kentucky football’s Southeastern Conference opener at Florida will be a matchup of ranked teams.

After a season-opening 37-13 win over Miami (Ohio), Kentucky remained at No. 20 in the new Associated Press Top 25 poll released Tuesday. Florida, which was not ranked in the preseason poll, debuted at No. 12 following its season-opening upset of Utah.

Kentucky moved up one spot from No. 21 to No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Florida was ranked 19th in that poll.

Only one team ranked ahead of the Wildcats in the preseason AP poll lost over the weekend. That team, Utah, fell from No. 7 to No. 13, after a dramatic 29-26 loss at Florida.

Mark Stoops’ team has now been ranked in five consecutive AP Top 25 polls, including the last three rankings of the 2021 season.

Kentucky was slotted sixth among SEC teams in the new poll, behind No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 12 Florida and No. 16 Arkansas. No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 24 Tennessee were also ranked in the poll from the SEC.

Florida moving into the Top 25 gives Kentucky its first chance for a ranked win this season on Saturday in Gainesville. Kentucky has beaten at least two ranked teams in each of the last two seasons. A year ago, Kentucky beat Florida when the Gators were ranked 10th in the AP poll.

This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 2:26 PM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription