Every week, the AP top 25 stirs the same argument: some teams get punished too hard, some get a lift they haven’t earned, and a few just flat-out get overlooked. Week 6 was no different, and there are a handful of programs that came out of the latest poll feeling shortchanged.
Texas is the clearest example. The Longhorns lost a rivalry game on the road on a walk-off field goal and fell from No. 1 to No.
- No one is arguing they should have stayed put after that kind of defeat, but the size of the drop feels excessive for a loss that came down to the final kick.
What makes it even harder to square is that Ohio State, the team Texas beat in Week 2, is sitting at No. 4 and still positioned ahead of them.
Kentucky has a similar gripe, even if its spot looks respectable at first glance. The Wildcats were knocked out of the poll a week ago after winning as a road underdog, and now they’re back at No.
- That’s not an insult on its own.
The issue is how that ranking stacks up against the rest of the SEC around them. Missouri, Tennessee and Ole Miss are all sitting above Kentucky, even though the Wildcats’ resume stacks up just as well - and in some cases better.
Missouri’s best wins are over now-unranked Florida and Texas A&M, with a loss to Mississippi State. Tennessee beat Auburn and Arkansas and lost to Texas.
Kentucky, meanwhile, beat Texas A&M and LSU and has only lost to Alabama. Ole Miss has wins over LSU and Louisville, but it also got blown out by unranked Florida.
On paper, Kentucky has every reason to be higher if these rankings are supposed to reflect what teams have actually done rather than what people expected before the season.
Oklahoma is another team that looks underappreciated. The Sooners knocked off the No. 1 team in the country and still aren’t in the poll, while two-loss LSU remains in the top 25.
LSU’s defeats came against Ole Miss and Kentucky, while Oklahoma’s losses were to Michigan and Georgia. If the biggest question is which team owns the better win, that answer belongs to Oklahoma.
And then there’s James Madison, which may be the most glaring case of all. The Dukes are 6-0 but sit 31st with 29 total points, while LSU, with two losses, remains ranked.
The reality is that James Madison doesn’t have a schedule loaded with marquee names, and there’s no denying that Power Four teams aren’t lining up to play a program that has produced Curt Cignetti and Bob Chesney and is now led by Billy Napier. But the record is the record.
James Madison has kept winning against the teams it can play, and that has to count for something.
In Other News...
Kentucky Had LSU Pointing Fingers Instead Of Taking Care Of Business
Lane Kiffin spent much of the postgame trying to dissect the details of LSUs overtime loss to Kentucky, and the conversation quickly shifted from the Tigers missed chances to the officiating. He took issue with a fourth-and-goal spot and several other calls, then spent time defending his own late-game decision to punt on fourth-and-1 rather than keep the offense on the field. It was the kind of aftermath that can make a loss feel even messier, especially in a game that went all the way to overtime.
For Kentucky, the bigger takeaway was less about any single whistle and more about forcing LSU into a night of explanations instead of execution. Kiffin has already been willing to point to outside factors after previous losses, including crowd noise, and this one fit that pattern with the Tigers searching for reasons after letting a winnable game slip away. The Wildcats did enough to leave LSU talking about calls and decisions, which is often the sign a close SEC game has tilted the way a home team wants. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Transfer Surge Is Suddenly Fueling A Real SEC Threat
The transfer portal has become one of the quickest ways to reshape a roster, and Kentucky has a real candidate helping drive that conversation in Week 6. Kenny Minchey was among the players drawing attention in a recent ranking of the top transfer portal performers in college football, a list built off what players actually did on the field and how much they swung games for their teams. For the Wildcats, that kind of production matters because it speaks to more than depth - it speaks to whether the new pieces can help turn Kentucky into something more dangerous inside the SEC.
Mincheys inclusion also puts Kentucky in a larger national frame alongside names such as UCLAs Wayne Knight and Oregon States Braden Atkinson, but the Wildcats interest is obvious: they need transfer additions to translate into wins, not just roster buzz. If Kentuckys surge is real, it will be because these newcomers keep showing up in the moments that decide games, and because the line between promising portal help and genuine conference threat keeps getting thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Fans Will Love The LSU Complaint After That TD
Kentuckys 35-34 overtime win over LSU already had plenty of drama, but the late-second-quarter touchdown by Kenny Minchey added another layer to a game that felt tense from start to finish. The Wildcats needed every bit of that margin in a contest that stayed tight all the way into overtime, and the sequence around the score quickly became one of the nights biggest talking points.
Lane Kiffins postgame complaint only sharpened the spotlight on what happened, as he said officials told him the play was not blown dead because of the stakes and the risk of upsetting the home crowd. He also pointed to missed calls and said he could not communicate with the officials the way he wanted during the game, leaving LSU with plenty to stew over after a finish Kentucky fans will be happy to replay. [Read more 🡒]