Kentucky ranked 17th in Rivals preseason rankings

With only eight days left until the Kentucky Wildcats kick off against Louisiana Monroe, the team is getting some more love when it comes to preseason rankings.

Mike Farrell of Rivals released his preseason top-25 on Friday, and he has Kentucky coming in at No. 17.

Kentucky this off-season has received pretty steady praise, with most ranking them inside the top 30-50. CBS Sports has them ranked 35th, while the first USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches poll has them 37th. Then you find the rankings that aren’t so high, such as the ESPN SP+ rankings, which has the Cats ranked 57th overall.

What is holding the Cats back from breaking into the top 25 in most of these rankings? It all comes back to questions regarding the offense. If this offense can produce, then a trip to Atlanta could be on the line when they travel to Athens in October.

If they struggle, fans could be looking at a 7-5 season.

Either way Kentucky getting a top-20 ranking is nothing to scoff at. Mark Stoops has turned this program completely around heading into his ninth season, and luckily for Kentucky football fans it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.

Here is Mike Farrell’s full preseason top-25:

1. Oklahoma

2. Alabama

3. Ohio State

4. Georgia

5. Clemson

6. Texas A&M

7. Wisconsin

8. North Carolina

9. Cincinnati

10. Florida

11. Oregon

12. LSU

13. Iowa

14. Notre Dame

15. Indiana

16. USC

17. Kentucky

18. Utah

19. Texas

20. Iowa State

21. Coastal Carolina

22. NC State

23. Washington

24. Liberty

25. Penn State