Kentucky just outside of Coaches Poll Top 25 following Week 1 win

ZGeogheganKSR

Going into the 2024 season, Kentucky football was receiving a decent amount of votes in the preseason Coaches Poll Top 25. But after a shutout victory in Week 1, the Wildcats have jumped up several spots.

When the updated Coaches Poll was released on Tuesday afternoon, Kentucky checked in with 23 points, which is good enough for 29th overall. That’s an eight-spot increase from the preseason poll, which had UK at 37th. The Wildcats needed just a little over one half of football to beat Southern Miss 31-0 on Saturday before lightning in the Kroger Field area canceled the game for good in the third quarter.

Kentucky also moved up in ESPN’s Football Power Index following the season-opening win. The FPI has the Wildcats at 29th, as well, which ranks 11th among SEC teams. UK’s next opponent, South Carolina, dropped 15 spots to 48th in the FPI. The Gamecocks received votes in the preseason Coaches Poll but were not mentioned in Tuesday’s update.

The latest AP Poll update is expected to be released this afternoon. Kentucky was also receiving votes in the AP’s preseason poll and is expected to see a similar rise in the coming update.

Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings (Sept. 3)

Georgia
Ohio State
Texas (+1)
Alabama (+1)
Ole Miss (+1)
Oregon (-3)
Notre Dame
Penn State (+1)
Michigan (-1)
Missouri (+1)
Utah (+2)
Tennessee (+3)
Oklahoma (+3)
Southern California (+9)
Miami (+4)
Kansas State (+1)
Oklahoma State (+1)
Arizona (+3)
LSU (-7)
Kansas (+4)
Iowa (+4)
Clemson (-8)
NC State (-1)
Louisville (+3)
Washington (+1)

Schools Dropped Out: No. 10 Florida State; No. 20 Texas A&M

Others Receiving Votes: Georgia Tech 86; Texas A&M 78; Memphis 43; Kentucky 23; Boise State 22; SMU 19; Auburn 13; Wisconsin 11; Iowa State 10; UNLV 9; Tulane 9; Maryland 9; Liberty 9; Nebraska 8; Boston College 7; South Florida 5; James Madison 4; Air Force 4; UTSA 3; North Carolina 3; Appalachian State 3; Texas State 2; Syracuse 1; Coastal Carolina 1