New College Football Top 25 Polls & Power Rankings

It’s been a wild and memorable season for the Kentucky Wildcats.

It featured some of the highest of highs (Florida, Miss. State) and lowest of lows (Tennessee...), but in the end, the Wildcats finished off one of the best seasons in program history with a destruction of Louisville in the Governor’s Cup.

With a 9-3 finish, Kentucky is right around the top-15 range of every top-25 poll and power ranking as we enter the postseason. We’re still a week away from the final College Football Playoff rankings and bowls being announced, but it’s looking like the Wildcats will face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Citrus Bowl, though it could also end up being the Northwestern Wildcats.

The latest Coaches Poll has Kentucky checking in at the No. 15 spot, while the AP Poll has them at No. 16. Respect the Wildcats to be ranked higher in the new CFP rankings on Tuesday.

AP Top 25 Poll Week 13

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
4. Georgia Bulldogs
5. Oklahoma Sooners
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
7. UCF Knights
8. Michigan Wolverines
9. Texas Longhorns
10. Washington Huskies
11. Florida Gators
12. Washington State Cougars
13. LSU Tigers
14. Penn State Nittany Lions
15. West Virginia Mountaineers
16. Kentucky Wildcats
17. Utah Utes
18. Syracuse Orange
19. Boise State Broncos
20. Mississippi St. Bulldogs
21. Northwestern Wildcats
22. Texas A&M Aggies
23. Army Black Knights
24. Iowa State Cyclones
25. Fresno State Bulldogs

Coaches Top 25 Poll Week 13

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
4. Georgia Bulldogs
5. Oklahoma Sooners
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
7. UCF Knights
8. Michigan Wolverines
9. Texas Longhorns
10. Florida Gators
11. Washington Huskies
12. Penn State Nittany Lions
13. Washington State Cougars
14. LSU Tigers
15. Kentucky Wildcats
16. West Virginia Mountaineers
17. Utah Utes
18. Syracuse Orange
19. Mississippi St. Bulldogs
20. Boise State Broncos
21. Northwestern Wildcats
22. Texas A&M Aggies
23. Fresno State Bulldogs
24. Utah State Aggies
25. Army Black Knights

The latest CBS Sports rankings have Kentucky at No. 16.

We haven’t gotten to see the Wildcats offense really open up many times this season, but Louisville is just the opponent that might contribute to such results here in late 2018. Kentucky exorcised some rivalry demons as it hung 50 on the scoreboard in Cardinals Stadium.

The Massey ratings have Kentucky at No. 18.

ESPN’s latest power rankings have the Wildcats sitting at No. 15.

The Wildcats fell just short of winning their first SEC East title, but it was still a heck of a season, culminating with Saturday night’s 56-10 blowout of rival Louisville. It was UK’s second-biggest win in the Governor’s Cup series; it won 73-0 in 1922. The Wildcats won at least nine games in a regular season for only the fourth time in school history and the first since 1977. They won six games against bowl-eligible opponents and finished 5-3 against SEC foes. Given its momentum, Kentucky is possibly headed to the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day, where it will try to earn its first postseason victory since defeating East Carolina 25-19 in the Liberty Bowl after the 2008 season.

Here’s a look at ESPN’s top 10:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. Georgia
5. Ohio State
6. Oklahoma
7. UCF
8. Michigan
9. Texas
10. Washington

We’ll upload the AP Top 25 Poll when it’s released later.