Kentucky Cracks Top 25 of PFF Power Ratings
As the calendar creeps toward talking season at SEC Media Days, it’s currently power rankings season for the world of college football. Talking heads are curating positional rankings, while spreadsheets crunch numbers for various power ratings. The fine folks at Pro Football Focus (PFF) have their own set of data that is kind to the Kentucky football team ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Like most power ratings, it’s unclear exactly how the formula is used to create this number, but it has two simple goals. PFF’s ELO rating attempts to illustrate two points for college football teams: how well a team played against their opponent and how well they were expected to play against their opponent. PFF’s game grades are an input used in this model.
Two presvious ESPN Power Rankings have Kentucky on the fringe of the Top 25. SP+ ranks the Wildcats No. 24, with FPI sliding UK into No. 28 on the pecking order. PFF gives the Cats much more credit, ranked No. 19 in their preseason ELO ratings.
“While Kentucky loses Will Levis under center, the Wildcats have a more than capable replacement in NC State transfer Devin Leary,” writes PFF’s Max Chadwick. “His 85.1 passing grade in 2021 ranked 11th among Power Five quarterbacks. Kentucky also returns many key contributors to a defense that was top-20 in the country last year in expected points allowed per play.”
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Similar to last preseason, the power ratings are kind to Kentucky. We’ll find out in a few weeks if the pollsters still believe the Cats are top 25 caliber after failing to meet expectations in a seven-win season.
Kentucky Opponents in PFF ELO Ratings
The Kentucky football schedule is loaded with juggernauts, including the top two teams in the country. Six of the nine Power Five opponents are in the PFF ELO Top 25, and only Vanderbilt ranks outside of the Top 40.
- No. 111 Ball State
- Eastern Kentucky N/A
- No. 128 Akron
- No. 84 Vanderbilt
- No. 20 Florida
- No. 1 Georgia
- No. 33 Missouri
- No. 9 Tennessee
- No. 23 Mississippi State
- No. 2 Alabama
- No. 22 South Carolina
- No. 36 Louisville
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