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With football season quickly approaching, media outlets are getting their lists out to fans to see where their teams rank.
CBS Sports has finally completed their annual Power 5 head coach rankings, and Kentucky Wildcats fans will once again be pumped to see where Mark Stoops landed.
You can find the top 25 list here.
Here is what Tom Fornelli had to say about Mark Stoops:
“Old Steady Stoops remains at No. 22. Last year, he was one of the biggest climbers in our rankings, coming up from No. 39. It doesn’t seem like anybody was interested in holding a 5-6 season against him, but I wonder what will happen if the Wildcats have similar results this year. 2020 rank: 22 (E)”
Stoops was the third-ranked coach in the SEC East this season, coming in behind Kirby Smart (7th) and Dan Mullen (10th).
For the other SEC East coaches, they didn’t fare well overall, especially considering two of Kentucky opponents this season — Vanderbilt and South Carolina — had their coaches fall in the bottom three of the rankings with Shane Beamer at 65 and Clark Lea of Vanderbilt at 63.
Some fans will also enjoy seeing two rival programs coaches not getting as much love as they have in the last several years. Louisville’s Scott Satterfield slipped down 14 spots from his previous ranking to 45th, and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel came in at 52nd.
Another storyline to follow comes after some strong words from Vince Marrow this last week on KSR. After Steve Clinkscale decided to take a coaching position at Michigan, the question was put out of which program is the better one at the moment.
This ranking will keep that talk going for a little while longer, as Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh came in one spot behind Stoops at 23rd.
These rankings don’t mean a ton in the grand scheme of on-field performance, but it does help Kentucky fans see the respect this program has gained, and is gaining consistently. Now let’s hope it turns into a bunch of wins this season.
You can find the rest of the rankings (65-26) here.