After a 2023 campaign that saw Kentucky football spend limited time among the top 25, the Wildcats couldn’t find their name among this season’s USA Today Preseason Coaches Top 25 after earning just 12 votes Monday.

Other SEC schools including the likes of Auburn, Florida and South Carolina, as well as the Wildcats’ in-state rivals in the Louisville Cardinals also earned votes despite finding themselves outside the top 25.

The poll was headlined by the Georgia Bulldogs, who will look to make it back to the summit of college football after a derailing loss against Alabama in the 2023 SEC Championship game saw the Bulldogs miss out on a shot at a third-straight national championship.

New SEC addition Texas found itself at No. 4, with Alabama and Ole Miss earning the No. 5 and No. 6 spots respectively as they rounded out the SEC teams in the top 10.

After a strong 2023 campaign that saw them ranked as high as No. 9 in the country, the Missouri Tigers found themselves at No. 11, one spot ahead of the Tigers of LSU, who will look to improve on last season despite losing Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.

Kentucky’s rivals to the south in the Tennessee Volunteers found themselves at No. 15, with the other new addition to the conference in the Oklahoma Sooners earning spot No. 16.

Texas A&M rounded out the nine total SEC teams to earn a spot in the top 25 as the Aggies grabbed the No. 20 spot.

Outside of the SEC, the reigning national champion-winning Michigan Wolverines found themselves at No. 8, with the loss of both head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback JJ McCarthy evidently instilling doubt in the likelihood of back-to-back Michigan championships.

The Wildcats will face four of the nine teams that earned rankings in the poll, with three of those four games being played on the road as the Wildcats embark on the ninth hardest schedule in the SEC.

Kentucky football’s 2024 season will kick off on Saturday, August 31, from Kroger Field against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.