Where Kentucky stands in ESPN's ranking of unbeaten teams

There are 39 unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS); Kentucky is one of them. The Cats had arguably the easiest early schedule of any team in the Power 5. That said, their wins over Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, and Akron were hardly anything to write home about. Kentucky is still well outside the AP and Coaches Top 25s, coming in at No. 33 and No. 30 respectively.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranked the 39 undefeated teams based on computer rankings and his own opinions. Kentucky is No. 22, ahead of Colorado, which is ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll but No. 26 in this exercise; Missouri, which upset No. 15 Kansas State on Saturday, is No. 27; and Louisville is No. 28. As he writes, until the Cats face some legit competition — which is coming soon — the jury’s out.

“Against just about the weakest schedule imaginable — they’ve played FCS team Eastern Kentucky and teams ranked 118th (Ball State) and 130th (Akron) in SP+ — the Wildcats have been … fine,” Connelly writes. “They kept the Cardinals and Zips at arm’s length, but they dilly-dallied against EKU. I’m not sure we’ve learned a single thing about them yet.”

That’s completely fair. I enjoyed his comments on Louisville.

“I’ve changed my mind about Louisville about 12 times in three games,” Connelly wrote, noting the Cardinals’ slow starts vs. Georgia Tech and Murray State and lackadaisical second half vs. Indiana. “Their upside is matched only by their inconsistency.”

If you’ve got ESPN Insider, you can see the rest of his rankings. Georgia is actually No. 3 behind Washington and Ohio State.

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Kentucky Football stays at No. 35 in The Athletic’s FBS Rankings

Elsewhere, Kentucky stayed put at No. 35 in The Athletic’s ranking of the 133 teams in the FBS. The Cats are right ahead of Louisville. Vanderbilt is No. 89, down five spots from last week following the loss to UNLV. Missouri and Florida, whom Kentucky also faces in the next month, both jumped 29 spots after big wins over Kansas State and Tennessee. The Tigers are No. 24 and the Gators No. 25. Tennessee is down 17 spots to No. 29.

Here is where all of Kentucky’s opponents rank:

• Ball State: No. 127
• Eastern Kentucky: N/A
• Akron: No. 128
• Vanderbilt: No. 89
• Florida: No. 25
• Georgia: No. 1
• Missouri: No. 24
• Tennessee: No. 29
• Mississippi State: No. 42
• Alabama: No. 18
• South Carolina: No. 44
• Louisville: No. 36

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