Kentucky’s latest win should have bought the Wildcats a little more breathing room in the national conversation. Instead, it got them booted from the AP Top 25.
That’s the part CBS Sports analyst Brad Crawford took issue with on Monday morning after Kentucky’s wild Week 5 comeback at South Carolina. The Wildcats erased a 17-point halftime hole on the road, outlasted LaNorris Sellers and the Gamecocks in overtime, and improved to 4-1 in the Will Stein era. Still, AP Poll voters left the previously No. 24 team completely outside the Top 25 entering Week 6.
Crawford didn’t hide his frustration with that decision.
“How about Kentucky falling out of the poll completely, despite erasing a 17-point deficit on the road as a betting underdog at South Carolina,” Crawford said. “I know the Gamecocks are bad, but for Will Stein to roll the dice in overtime, go for a 2-point conversion and get it on the road for the win, that’s impressive, man. Kentucky is one of the most improved teams in the country, and yet the Wildcats really aren’t getting that respect.”
He drove the point home again in a separate on-air clip shared by CBS Sports College Football: "Kentucky is one of the most improved football teams in the country yet the Wildcats aren't really getting that respect nationally."
Stein has changed the look of this Kentucky program in a short time, and the South Carolina win only added to that case. Even with the poll snub, the Wildcats have a clear path to force more attention if they keep putting wins together under their new coach.
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