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In just over a month under new head coach Will Stein, Kentucky football has already carved out a place in the record books. However, the latest entry is not one the Wildcats will celebrate.
On October 3, Stein's squad traveled to Williams-Brice Stadium and defeated South Carolina in overtime, overcoming a 17-point deficit—the largest ever in a road game for the program. Despite entering the matchup ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25, Kentucky was a slight underdog, partly due to South Carolina's four-game winning streak in the series and the general difficulty of winning conference road games in the SEC.
One might assume that such a gritty victory would impress AP voters. Instead, when the new poll was released on Sunday, October 4, Kentucky fell out of the top 25 entirely, landing atop the 'Others Receiving Votes' category with 160 points—just two points behind the new No. 25 team, Pittsburgh.
According to WKYT sports director Lee Howard, this marks only the 12th time in AP poll history (which began in 1936) that a ranked Power Four team won a road conference game and then dropped out of the subsequent rankings.
In the broader context of the season, the poll snub may be inconsequential. If Kentucky upsets No. 10 LSU this weekend, Stein's team will quickly climb back into the rankings. Moreover, with the College Football Playoff committee's rankings being the only ones that truly determine the 12-team field, traditional polls have lost much of their significance.
Nevertheless, the drop stings because it reveals how outside observers still perceive the Wildcats. If a team like Alabama, Georgia, or LSU—all perennial national title contenders—had won a conference road game as a ranked team, even while playing poorly, they would almost certainly remain ranked. The benefit of the doubt is a privilege Kentucky has yet to earn.
Key Analysis
The evolving landscape of college sports, with name, image, and likeness deals, revenue sharing, and player movement, has leveled the playing field to some degree. Programs like Indiana and Vanderbilt have demonstrated that unexpected success is possible. Kentucky aspires to reach that level of national relevance, but the AP snub underscores how much ground remains to be covered.
Originally reported by yahoo.