SB Nation's Bill Connelly has done one last update of his S&P+ rankings prior to the start of the season.
In the latest update, UK rises 6 spots and is now ranked 46th which is higher than any other preseason ranking I've seen elsewhere. UK is sandwiched between Minnesota (a team many are picking to win the Big 10 West) and Oklahoma State.
Interestingly, Connelly's model projects UK's defense (40th) to be better than UK's offense (56th). For perspective, UK's defense finished 2014 ranked 60th, and the offense finished 52nd. I'm skeptical UK's offense will be ranked lower this season, but I would happily welcome a borderline Top 40 defense.
Week One Game Projection
Additionally, Brian Fremeau (the guy who invented the FEI system, and that model, combined with S&P+, gives us the F+ projection model that I use to preview games) has published his Week One game projections which typically did a good job predicting UK games last season give or take a touchdown (notable exceptions being the South Carolina, Louisville, and Mississippi State games).
Fremeau sees UK beating Louisiana-Lafayette 29-24. Other game projections of note: Western Kentucky beating Vanderbilt 33-27, Auburn beating Louisville 28-23, and South Carolina beating North Carolina 38-26.