Ty Bryant didn’t sound shocked when Kentucky slipped out of the AP Top 25 after beating South Carolina. If anything, the senior safety came off like a player who had already seen the disrespect coming.
Kentucky entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 24 and left Columbia with a 34-34 comeback win, its first overtime road victory in school history. That still wasn’t enough to keep the Wildcats in the AP poll. They fell to No. 26 this week, while Pitt slid into No. 25 with 162 points.
The twist is hard to miss. Kentucky is 4-1, and its only loss came against unbeaten Alabama, a team that has scored 45 or more points in every game this season and ripped through Mississippi State last week. Even so, Oklahoma State and UCLA moved up in the AP Top 25 without playing Saturday, and Kentucky wound up below both after winning on the road in the SEC.
“We’re here. We’re here,” Bryant told reporters after the South Carolina win. “We’re doing great things, and we just gotta continue just to prove that each and every Saturday.
“And if they want to stay asleep, they can do that. But I mean, our goal is we’re worried about us, and just continue just to play good football.”
Kentucky did get a little more respect elsewhere. The Wildcats are No. 25 in the Coaches Poll, which at least suggests somebody in the room saw what happened Saturday.
The comeback carried extra weight because South Carolina had owned this matchup lately, winning four straight before Kentucky finally broke through. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 17-0 lead, but quarterback Kenny Minchey led the rally that turned the game and sent UK home with a landmark road win.
Bryant played his part, too, finishing with eight tackles, including five solo stops, and a pass deflection.
“I’ve been here for four years now, and that’s my first time beating South Carolina,” Bryant said. “I mean, it’s a great feeling. And the way that it happened, too - it was just amazing.”
Kentucky’s schedule doesn’t leave much room to coast from here. The Wildcats host No.
10 LSU this week and still have No. 14 Missouri, No.
15 Tennessee and No. 16 Florida ahead, along with unranked Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Louisville.
In Other News...
Kentuckys 2027 Recruiting Footprint Already Stands Out In The SEC
The early shape of the 2027 recruiting cycle is already giving SEC programs a clear geographic identity, and Kentucky is part of that conversation in a notable way. With 11 of the leagues 16 teams sitting inside the national top 25, the conference is again recruiting at a level that forces everyone to think beyond their own borders, but the Wildcats have still managed to carve out a footprint that stands out when compared with the rest of the leagues spread of classes and commit distances.
For Kentucky, the story is less about one splashy number than the broader trend of where the staff is landing players and how that fits into the SEC landscape. The Wildcats class is being measured against schools that are leaning heavily on nearby talent, others that are casting wider nets, and a handful that already have key commits shaping their direction, leaving Kentucky in an interesting middle ground as the 2027 board continues to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Got One Huge SEC Sign After That South Carolina Comeback
The SEC handed out its Week 5 football honors after a busy stretch of league play, and Kentuckys trip to South Carolina also ended up producing a notable recognition on the Wildcats side of the ledger. Along with offensive, defensive and special teams awards that went to players from around the conference, Kentucky landed one of the weeks position-specific honors tied to the line of scrimmage.
Lance Heard was the Wildcat singled out, a fitting nod after a game in which Kentucky needed steadiness up front to survive the road. His performance stood out well beyond the final score, with the kind of consistency and physicality that can swing an overtime game, and it gave Kentucky a timely SEC reminder that the work in the trenches still gets noticed when the league starts handing out awards. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Fans Face An Early Rupp Ticket Crunch
Kentucky fans looking to lock in seats for the 2026-27 season wont have to wait long to start planning. Single-game tickets for the first 10 home dates at Rupp Arena, including three exhibitions and several regular-season matchups, are set to hit Ticketmaster for the general public Tuesday at 5 p.m. EST, giving Big Blue Nation an early crack at what should be a busy home schedule.
The one caveat is that the most in-demand SEC home games will be handled later, depending on availability, so the first wave is only part of the picture. Theres also a separate path for the CBS Sports Classic meeting with North Carolina at Madison Square Garden, which comes with its own presale and general sale window, leaving Kentucky supporters to juggle a few different ticket clocks if they want to follow the team from Rupp to New York. [Read more 🡒]