Kentucky receives votes in AP and coaches polls but doesn’t crack top 25

Apparently, there are 36-to-44 better football teams in the country than the Kentucky Wildcats.

After a dominant 45-10 win over Louisiana-Monroe to kick off the 2021 season, Kentucky, who has reached a bowl game each of the last five seasons, won three bowls in a row and have perhaps their best offense on paper in decades, failed to crack the top 25 in either the AP or Coaches poll released yesterday.

They did receive a handful of votes landing three in the AP Poll and 28 in the Coaches Poll but did not get nearly enough support to land in the top 25.

In fact, in terms of voting, the Wildcats rank 45th in the nation per the AP Poll and 37th per the Coaches Poll.

Indiana, who lost 34-6 to Iowa, got more AP votes than the Wildcats, who are coming off a 35-point win, LSU, who was upset by UCLA, got more votes, and even Florida State, who lost their game to Notre Dame, finished ahead of Kentucky in voting.

Now, UK did not beat a ULM team that went 0-10 last season and is expected to struggle again this season, but their track record of recent success should’ve had them closer to the top 25 than 45th or 37.

They’ll look to continue to prove the doubters wrong Saturday when they host the SEC East division foe Missouri Tigers.