Kentucky is showing up all over the early College Football Playoff projections, and the range is real. Depending on which bracket you’re looking at, the Wildcats land anywhere from No. 9 to No. 11.
That’s where this season has taken Will Stein’s team after Week 7. The first official CFP Rankings arrive two weeks from today, Nov. 3, but the projection crowd is already weighing in, and Kentucky keeps popping up in the field.
Heather Dinich of ESPN has Kentucky at No. 9 in her CFP projections and in the same slot in her Midseason Bubble Watch. In her setup, the Wildcats would open against No. 8 seed UCLA.
Dinich’s field includes four SEC teams: Georgia at No. 6, Ole Miss at No.
7, Tennessee at No. 10 and Kentucky at No. 9.
Florida, Texas, Alabama and LSU are listed on the “wrong side of the bubble.”
Her bracket sends the top four seeds straight to first-round byes: No. 1 Miami as ACC champ, No.
2 Ohio State as Big Ten champ, No. 3 BYU as Big 12 champ and No.
4 Notre Dame. The opening round would be played on campus Dec. 18 and 19, with No.
12 Boise State, the highest Group of 6 team, at No. 5 Indiana; No.
11 Utah at No. 6 Georgia; No.
10 Tennessee at No. 7 Ole Miss; and No.
9 Kentucky at No. 8 UCLA.
Dinich also pointed to Kentucky’s Nov. 7 trip to Knoxville as its toughest game left. She highlighted Tennessee’s win over Alabama, Kentucky’s Week 2 loss to the Crimson Tide and the committee’s comparison of common opponents.
Scott Dochterman of The Athletic has Kentucky in the Playoff too, though he slots the Wildcats at No. 11 and gives them No. 6 Indiana in the opener.
His latest projections are framed as what the field could look like on Selection Sunday, after his Sunday set was based on current resumes. In that earlier version, Ole Miss was the No. 6 seed.
Dochterman’s field has No. 6 Indiana vs.
No. 11 Kentucky in the Dec. 18 playoff game, while Dec. 19 brings No.
8 Iowa vs. No.
9 Alabama, No. 7 Texas Tech vs.
No. 10 Ole Miss and No.
5 Miami (Fla.) vs. No.
12 Oregon State. The bracket then sends BYU, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Georgia into the quarterfinals, with the Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl all listed as the next stops before the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and National Championship.
CBS Sports’ John Talty has Kentucky a little higher at No. 10, up one spot from last week. He said the Wildcats’ pressure on John Mateer and the road win in Norman stood out, and he notes that Texas Tech is the No. 7 seed in his bracket, which would set up a first-round game in Lubbock.
Talty’s projection has Kentucky sitting at 6-1 and heads into the Kentucky-Tennessee matchup with the Wildcats expected to be 7-1. He writes that if anyone thought the win over LSU might lead to a letdown, Will Stein’s group answered it by forcing John Mateer into four interceptions and escaping with a road win over Oklahoma.
He also said that on a weekend of SEC chaos, Kentucky staying in the win column mattered. In his bracket, the first round includes Boise State at Ole Miss, Notre Dame at Indiana, Kentucky at Texas Tech and Tennessee at UCLA.
From there, Talty’s quarterfinals would place the winner of Kentucky-Texas Tech against No. 2 Ohio State, and his semifinal path runs through Miami and New Orleans. For now, Kentucky keeps appearing in the conversation as the projections keep rolling in.
In Other News...
Will Stein Had The Perfect Response To Kentuckys Viral TV Moment
Kentuckys win over Oklahoma was already a notable one, but the postgame scene that followed quickly became its own talking point. In a clip that spread fast on social media, SEC Networks Tori Petry accidentally framed the Wildcats as the underdog in the matchup, asking Will Stein how it felt to beat a ranked team on the road when Kentucky was the ranked team.
Stein handled it exactly the way a coach would want, responding with grace in the moment and then making it clear he understands the work sideline reporters do. He stressed that everyone makes mistakes, a timely reminder in a sport where those exchanges are often dissected almost as closely as the game itself, and it also set the stage for Kentuckys next broadcast look as the Wildcats move on to their upcoming matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Underwood Just Became A Wild Kentucky QB Storyline
Bryce Underwoods sudden benching at Michigan has turned one of college footballs biggest young storylines into an immediate guessing game, and Kentucky naturally belongs in that conversation. The Wildcats have already been mentioned among the potential landing spots if Underwood chooses to explore a transfer, thanks in part to the kind of recruiting intrigue that tends to resurface fast when a high-profile quarterback situation changes.
There is still a long way between speculation and anything concrete, of course, and it is not even confirmed that Underwood will enter the portal. But with programs like LSU, Miami, Texas Tech, Georgia and Kentucky all floating around the discussion, the attention around his next move is only going to intensify, especially given the size of the NIL commitment he is already tied to at Michigan. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Stoops Knows Kentucky Cannot Sleepwalk Through This SEC Spot
Kentuckys recent surge has put Mark Stoops in a familiar spot, with his team riding a five-game winning streak and sitting in a share of first place in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats have leaned on a defense that has been generating turnovers, and Stoops has made it clear the groups edge has been a big part of why Kentucky has climbed into the league race.
But the next test carries its own danger, especially against a Vanderbilt team Stoops has been willing to praise in advance of the matchup. He had good things to say about Clark Leas program and the challenge it can present, which is part of why this feels like the kind of SEC week Kentucky cannot afford to treat lightly, even with momentum on its side. [Read more 🡒]