Mark Stoops ranked surprisingly low in CBS Sports’ coaches rankings

Since Mark Stoops became the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, Big Blue Nation has seen nothing but improvement each season.

The Stoops era got off to a rough start, but once he started getting his own recruits on campus and developed, then we saw the program take off.

This past season was the first 10-win season since 1977, and the Cats closed out the year with a big time win over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl.

Every spring, cbssports.com ranks all 65 coaches that are at Power 5 schools, and they add in Notre Dame as well.

This year saw coach Stoops roll in at No. 39.

“Mark Stoops: I was fully expecting Stoops to take a significant step forward in these rankings after winning 10 games at Kentucky last season. It was the first time the Wildcats won at least 10 games in a single season since 1977. I had him at No. 34 on my ballot, but I guess my fellow voters weren’t as impressed as I. Still, climbing seven spots isn’t insignificant. 2018 rank: 46 (+7)”

While it’s good to see Stoops rose in the rankings, I would’ve expected Stoops to be higher, not only because he had a 10-win season, but because we have seen his teams consistently get better and better each season, and it shows with their record after the year.

In my opinion, Stoops still doesn’t get the national credit that he deserves for the job he has done here for this program, and this ranking is indicative of that.

However, I do believe that if he keeps recruiting like he is and the on-field performance stays at a high level, then he will start to get that credit and respect sooner rather than later.

You can see the rankings from No. 65-26 here.