Kentucky football drops to No. 22 in Coaches Poll after South Carolina loss

Kentucky football is sliding in the national rankings.

Coming off a 24-14 loss to unranked South Carolina on Saturday night at Kroger Field, the Wildcats have been dropped nine spots in Sunday’s updated AFCA Coaches Poll, falling to No. 22 in the country. Kentucky was ranked as high as No. 8 in the Coaches Poll just two weeks ago, but the program has now dropped two straight games and sits on a 4-2 overall record.

UK will take on Mississippi State, which jumped six spots to No. 17, next weekend in Lexington.

Week 7 College Football Coaches Poll👀https://t.co/4aKFiGwC7r pic.twitter.com/NKqsWGdgH5

— On3 (@On3sports) October 9, 2022

Without starting QB Will Levis, Kentucky came out unexpectedly flat against the Gamecocks. The UK offense fumbled the ball on the opening play off a poorly executed trick play that set up South Carolina with a first-and-goal situation. The Gamecocks would score on the very next play and never looked back from there.

Kentucky is still one of six Southeastern Conference schools ranked among the Top 25. Alabama and Georgia hold down the top two spots, respectively, while Tennessee and Ole Miss held firm at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. MSU at No. 17 and UK at No. 22 round out the ranked SEC programs.

Earlier on Sunday, the Wildcats were knocked completely out of ESPN’s updated Power Rankings, falling from No. 13 to unranked. Kentucky’s projected win-loss total according to ESPN’s Football Power Index is now 6.7-5.3 after hovering around 8.0-4.0 for the majority of the 2022 season. The ‘Cats still have an 88.3 percent chance to meet the six-win threshold, but the odds of winning the SEC East have cratered to just 0.3 percent.

The updated Associated Press Poll, which currently has Kentucky ranked No. 13, will be released later on Sunday.

AFCA Week 7 Coaches Poll

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Southern California
7. Oklahoma State
8. Tennessee
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
11. Oregon (+1)
12. UCLA (+7)
13. NC State (+1)
14. Wake Forest (+1)
15. TCU (+3)
16. Kansas State (+4)
17. Mississippi State (+6)
18. Syracuse (+3)
19. Utah (-8)
20. Kansas (-3)
21. Cincinnati (+5)
22. Kentucky (-9)
23. Baylor (-1)
24. Texas (+10)
25. North Carolina (+15)

Schools Dropped Out

No. 16 Brigham Young; No. 24 Washington; No. 25 Arkansas

Others Receiving Votes

Brigham Young 82; Illinois 77; James Madison 70; Coastal Carolina 55; Florida 52; Tulane 32; South Carolina 21; Minnesota 14; Notre Dame 13; Central Florida 10; Maryland 8; Washington State 7; Washington 7; Texas A&M 7; Purdue 7; Louisiana State 5; Liberty 5; Florida State 4; Pittsburgh 2; San Jose State 1