The SEC still has a firm grip on the Week 6 USA Today Coaches Poll, with 10 league teams landing in the latest top 25 after a strong Week 5 slate.
Texas stayed put at No. 1, with Georgia right behind at No. 2. The Longhorns were off this week and now turn their attention to next week’s rivalry matchup against Oklahoma in Dallas.
Alabama sits next in the SEC pecking order at No. 7 after rolling past Mississippi State 56-23 in Starkville on Saturday. Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell has shown through 5 weeks that he is the real deal as a matchup against the No. 2 Bulldogs looms.
LSU checks in at No. 10, followed by Ole Miss at No. 11.
Tennessee is No. 14, Florida No. 15 and Mizzou No.
- Mississippi State comes in at No. 20, and Kentucky rounds out the SEC teams in the poll at No.
- Texas A&M also picked up 1 vote.
The full top 25 has Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, Indiana, Ohio State, Alabama, BYU, Texas Tech and LSU in the top 10, with Ole Miss, Utah, Oregon, Tennessee, Florida, Mizzou, USC, Iowa, Houston, Mississippi State, SMU, UCLA, Duke, Pitt and Kentucky filling out the rest.
Among teams receiving votes, Oklahoma State led the group with 187, followed by Boise State with 161, Nebraska with 117, Wake Forest with 87, Northwestern with 70, Wisconsin with 47, James Madison with 42, Minnesota with 40, North Dakota State with 29, Arizona with 15, New Mexico with 7, Baylor with 3, and Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and Kansas State with 1 apiece.
In Other News...
Will Stein's Late Gamble Put Kentucky Fans On Edge
Kentuckys 35-34 overtime win at South Carolina came with all the chaos youd expect from a road game that turned into the largest comeback in program history. Will Stein spent much of his postgame press conference walking through how it all unfolded, from the defensive strain that made the finish feel so precarious to the way key players helped the Wildcats dig out of a hole and keep the game alive.
Stein also owned the clock-management mistake late in regulation, a rare public slip in a night filled with high-leverage decisions. The biggest one came in overtime, when he chose to go for the win with a two-point conversion instead of extending the game, a gamble he tied to how worn down his defense had become as Kentucky dealt with injuries and a game that kept asking for one more answer. [Read more 🡒]
Kenny Minchey Just Delivered A Kentucky Road Performance Fans Rarely See
Kenny Mincheys night in Columbia started slowly, but it ended with Kentucky leaving South Carolina with a 35-34 overtime win and a quarterback performance the program has not seen often on the road. Minchey settled in as the game went on, completing 28 of 41 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns while helping the Wildcats bounce back from early trouble and stay in the thick of the SEC race.
The bigger significance may be what Minchey just did in a road conference setting. He became the first Kentucky quarterback since 2001 to post those passing numbers in an SEC road game without throwing an interception, a rare blend of volume, efficiency and poise away from home. With the win, Kentucky moved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in league play, and it now has a quarterback performance worth circling as the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Gutsy Win Left The Wildcats With A Worrying LSU Problem
Kentuckys overtime escape against South Carolina came with the kind of toll that can change a week in a hurry. The Wildcats survived 35-34, but the win was shadowed by a string of injuries, with running back Jason Patterson, linebacker Antwan Smith and defensive back Jaden Smith all leaving the game hurt. Jaden Smiths injury was described as severe, turning what should have been a momentum-building finish into a far more uneasy evaluation of the roster.
Coach Will Stein said several other players were already unavailable before kickoff, adding another layer of concern as Kentucky shifts its focus to LSU. The Wildcats know they earned something valuable by pulling out a gutty overtime victory, but the challenge now is figuring out how much of that lineup will be intact when the next test arrives. [Read more 🡒]