Kentucky knocked out of Coaches Poll Top 25 following Missouri loss

We knew this was coming. Kentucky football has been knocked out of the Coaches Poll Top 25 national rankings.

Following Saturday’s 38-21 loss to the Missouri Tigers, Kentucky fell from No. 23 in the Week 8 Coaches Poll to unranked while still receiving nine points, which puts the Wildcats at 36th in the country — a 13-spot drop compared to last week. Meanwhile, Missouri moved up five spots to No. 20 in the nation.

Kentucky will face a bye next weekend before returning to action against the Tennessee Volunteers for a home game at Kroger Field on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Looking at the rest of the Southeastern Conference, six schools were included in this week’s Coaches Poll Top 25. Georgia continues to hold down the top spot, followed by T-No. 8 Alabama, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 19 LSU, and No. 20 Missouri. Elsewhere, the Louisville Cardinals fell six spots to No. 21 after losing to Pittsburgh 38-21.

NEW: Week 8 College Football Coaches Poll👀

Top 25: https://t.co/ZSvH8WHI4m pic.twitter.com/HTMlKk184u

— On3 (@On3sports) October 15, 2023

The Week 8 Associated Press Poll will be released later this afternoon. Kentucky came into the weekend holding onto a No. 24 ranking in the AP, but they’ll likely fall out of that poll as well. Below is the entire updated Week 8 Coaches Poll.

Week 8 Coaches Poll

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

Schools Dropped Out: No. 19 Washington State; No. 23 Kentucky; No. 24 Kansas

Others Receiving Votes: James Madison 67; Clemson 54; Florida 29; Fresno State 21; Washington State 20; Arizona 13; Wyoming 12; Oklahoma State 12; Miami (FL) 12; Maryland 11; Kentucky 9; Liberty 5; Kansas State 5; UNLV 4; Texas A&M 4; West Virginia 3; Memphis 1; Kansas 1

ESPN’s updated FPI projections

Along with national rankings updates, Sunday also brings us a fresh look at ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI). Kentucky once again fell in the most recent FPI, dropping five spots to No. 43. As a result, the Wildcats season-long projections have been updated to reflect that change.

Kentucky currently has an 85.3 percent chance to reach the six-win threshold this season, which was up to 94 percent coming into the weekend. UK’s projected win-loss average has also dropped significantly, now sitting at 6.6-5.4 after reaching 7.3-5.7 this time last week. The Wildcats’ odds of winning the SEC East have all but disappeared too with a mere 0.1 percent chance to pull that off.

As for Missouri, the Tigers shot up 10 spots in the FPI to No. 27. Kentucky’s next opponent, Tennessee, moved up just one spot to No. 16 overall.