How far did Kentucky fall in college football rankings after loss to South Carolina?
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Preview: No 22 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Mississippi State
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Associated Press Top 25 voters gave Kentucky football something of a reprieve after a loss to unranked South Carolina without star quarterback Will Levis.
The Wildcats remained in the top 25 despite the 24-14 loss, falling from No. 13 to a tie for No. 22 with Texas. Kentucky also fell from No. 13 to No. 22 in the USA Today coaches poll.
Kentucky has dropped back-to back-games by a combined 13 points after a 4-0 start to the 2022 season. The losses to Ole Miss and South Carolina were both characterized by self-inflicted mistakes by the Cats.
Kentucky has now been ranked for 10 consecutive weeks, dating back to Nov. 28, 2021. Kentucky was ranked seventh just two weeks ago, marking the program’s best ranking since the final poll of the 1977 season.
An optimist can look at the schedule and see opportunities for Kentucky to move back into the top 25 over the next month.
Kentucky will host No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday. After an off week, it will travel to No. 6 Tennessee on Oct. 29. The Wildcats host No. 1 Georgia on Nov. 19. Of course, if Kentucky does not fix the offensive issues that were on display even before a foot injury forced Levis to miss the game against South Carolina, the difficulty of the upcoming schedule means Kentucky could face an uphill climb even to reach bowl eligibility.
UK rocketed up the polls during September thanks largely to a win at Florida. The Gators were ranked 12th at the time but have since fallen out of the top 25. Kentucky does not have a win over a team currently ranked in the poll.
The Wildcats are now sixth in the SEC pecking order according to AP voters, behind No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 16 Mississippi State.
This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 2:06 PM.
