Kentucky football still outside AP Poll Top 25 in rankings update

After moving up one spot from No. 28 to No. 27 in the latest Coaches Poll update, Kentucky football suffered a slight fall in the most recent AP Poll.

On Sunday afternoon, the Week 3 AP Poll was released following a loaded Saturday of college football action. Kentucky needed all four quarters to take care of FCS opponent Eastern Kentucky by a final score of 28-17, which understandably didn’t seem to sit right with the voters. UK enters Week 3 receiving five points in the AP Poll, good enough for 32nd in the country, a two-spot drop from last week’s position of 30th with 15 points.

Georgia and Michigan hold down the top two spots once again while Florida State takes over for Alabama (which dropped seven spots after losing to Texas) at No. 3 in the country. Texas and Southern California round out the top five, respectively. Five SEC teams cracked the AP’s Top 25 while three more — Kentucky included — were among the “others receiving votes” crowd.

🚨NEW: Week 3 College Football AP Pollhttps://t.co/DOAF81bxOQ pic.twitter.com/WzeDU36KuC

— On3 (@On3sports) September 10, 2023

Week 3 AP Poll

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Florida State (+1)
4. Texas (+7)
5. Southern California (+1)
6. Ohio State (-1)
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Notre Dame (+1)
10. Alabama (-7)
11. Tennessee (-2)
12. Utah
13. Oregon
14. LSU
15. Kansas State
16. Oregon State
17. Ole Miss (+3)
18. Colorado (+4)
19. Oklahoma (-1)
20. North Carolina (-3)
21. Duke
22. Miami [FL]
23. Washington State
24. UCLA
25. Iowa

Others Receiving Votes:
Clemson 86, Arkansas 33, TCU 19, Kansas 19, Tulane 17, Wisconsin 10, Kentucky 5, Mississippi St. 5, Minnesota 3, Cincinnati 3, Fresno St. 2, Wyoming 1, Oklahoma St. 1, Maryland 1, James Madison 1.

Kentucky plummets in ESPN’s FPI

Yes, a win is still a win, but the computers don’t seem to agree with that sentiment. ESPN’s Football Power Index was updated on Sunday morning following Saturday’s games, where Kentucky dropped 15 spots in spite of picking up the win. The ‘Cats fell from No. 26 all the way down to No. 41 in the latest FPI.

As a result, Kentucky’s season-long FPI projections have been updated to reflect Saturday’s result. UK is now projected to finish with an average win-loss record of 6.5-5.5 and just a 73.1 percent chance of reaching the six-win threshold. Additionally, Kentucky’s odds of winning the SEC East have dropped to a mere 1.9 percent chance.

Next up for Kentucky is another home game, this time against the Akron Zips (1-1) on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Akron is now ranked 131st in ESPN’s updated FPI, third-worst in all of Division I football.