Every year, USA Today ranks and grades each season for all 130 FBS college football teams.
This season, the Kentucky Wildcats finished with one of the top grades in all of college football. USA Today gave Kentucky an A for the season, the second-highest possible grade. Only 6 teams graded higher than the 2018 Wildcats.
Here’s a look at all the teams with an A grade.
A+ Graded Teams: UAB, Army, Cincinnati, Clemson, Fresno State, Washington State
A Graded Teams: Alabama, Appalachian State, UCF, Florida, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah State
A- Graded Teams: Baylor, Buffalo, Georgia, Georgia Southern, LSU, Northwestern, Ohio State, Syracuse, Texas A&M. Troy
For a team that entered the year with a projected five-win season total in Vegas, there’s no reason why UK should’ve received anything lower than an A. Every team that received an A+ grade finished with at least 11 wins.
You could definitely argue Kentucky had a better season than every A+ team other than Clemson, but the ranking is more about the total amount of wins compared to the programs history. There’s no reason to be upset about an A grade compared to an A+.
Overall, a fantastic and well deserved grade for UK. This is just one more accolade earned by the team after a historic season.