Kentucky projected in top 10 of early college football playoff rankings

247 Sports released their projections for the first College Football Playoff rankings on Sunday, and Kentucky cracked the top 10.

October 30th marks the first release of the committee’s rankings, and 247 projected what those rankings would be if they were released at this very moment. Keep in mind that the committee focuses on things such as strength of schedule, head-to-head opponents, etc.

The top four released would feature three SEC schools with Alabama coming in at 1, LSU at 3, and Georgia at 4.

Coming in at No. 8 are the Kentucky Wildcats:

The committee can only rate what’s been shown on the field, and in that regard the Wildcats are a worthy inclusion. Kentucky owns a quality road win over Florida, which looks like a Top 25 team. And the Wildcats have earned two of the better back-to-back set of victories in the country the last two weeks against Mississippi State and South Carolina. Things could flip quickly, but Kentucky looks like a program that could easily be 8-0 heading into a home game with Georgia on Nov. 2.

For those wondering why a few notable one-loss teams (Auburn, Penn State, Washington) slot behind Kentucky, it’s because they have one loss! With a more complete look at the schedule, one can better position a team with a loss. With just five weeks of evidence, it’s hard to jump any of them ahead of an unbeaten Wildcats team with a pair of Top 25 teams.

Kentucky has three quality wins over Mississippi State, South Carolina, and at Florida, who just cracked the top 25 this past poll. And they haven’t just won these games; they have dominated these games.

Kentucky is giving up only 12.6 PPG, and has won each game by 11 points or more. Benny Snell has cemented himself as a legitimate Heisman contender, and the defense is the Wildcats’ best in the history of the school. Kentucky has a real chance of being undefeated when they face the Georgia Bulldogs for a shot at the SEC East title in November.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. After all, Texas A&M is favored by 6.5 points over Kentucky in Week 6, and this will be a major road test for the Wildcats.

Still, it’s great to see Kentucky’s resume through five games is not only worthy of a CFP ranking, but a top-10 one to boot.

If Kentucky were to get a top-10 ranking this season in any poll, you do not need me to tell you that it would be Kentucky’s first top-10 ranking since 2007 when they beat No. 1 LSU, and it would be the school’s first of the CFP era.

Either way, Kentucky is a having a magical season so far, and the hope is that will continue through the second half of the season.

Here is what the top 10 of this ranking looks like:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. LSU Tigers
4. Georgia Bulldogs
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
6. Clemson Tigers
7. Oklahoma Sooners
8. Kentucky Wildcats
9. West Virginia Mountaineers
10. Washington Huskies