Will Levis on Kentucky's national ranking: 'It's cool to acknowledge'

For the first time since Fleetwood Mac released Rumors, the Kentucky football team is ranked in the top-seven of the AP Poll. A monumental feat for Mark Stoops and the program he has spent a decade building basically from scratch.

However, the players on the current team don’t seem to let that sort of history bother them. Who cares about the past, it’s all about these ‘Cats and their quest to finally reach the SEC Championship. UK QB Will Levis was asked about Kentucky’s No. 7 ranking this week on the Paul Finebaum show. To which he responded:

“No, it’s really cool. I mean, I saw that clip that Tayvion [Robinson] said that this is the highest we’ve been ranked since 1977, which is cool, really cool to think about. But at the same time, you can’t really think about that stuff. We’re going to prepare and we’re going to make sure that we’re ready for games regardless of if we’re unranked or ranked first in the country. So it really doesn’t matter, it’s cool to acknowledge. But it does add a little bit more of kind of an energy and a little bit of motivation. But it’s not going to change the way how we prepare.”

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A cool feat, but ultimately, a meaningless one in the preparation leading up to the Wildcats’ next game, at Ole Miss. Coach Mark Stoops shared similar sentiments when he was asked at a press conference this week.

“I mean I like it there. I’d like it to stay there. That’s really what’s most important,” said Stoops. “Sure it helps with the fanbase, showing up, and having people there. It helps in recruiting, it helps with your team. And hopefully it motivates them to practice hard to stay that way because we have a very tough stretch coming up starting here this week.”

He doesn’t believe all the positive press will distract the veterans on his team.

“Our team is mature enough,” Stoops said. “Certainly there’s some young guys that need to still be taught quite a bit. But the leadership of this team knows that (the ranking) is fine but it’s really about how we practice, how we prepare, and getting ready for a really good team and another tough challenge.”

Will Levis and Mark Stoops appreciate the historic nature of Kentucky’s ranking. But both know bigger goals lie ahead in Oxford this weekend.