Kentucky football remained unranked in the week nine edition of the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll on Sunday, receiving just two votes.
The Wildcats, who did not play in week nine due to a bye week, lost two votes after receiving four in week eight. Week eight saw Kentucky fall out of the top 25 after a 38-21 loss at home against Missouri.
The Tigers themselves jumped up four places to No. 16 after defeating South Carolina 34-12 at home to improve to 7-1.
The Georgia Bulldogs once again checked in at the No. 1 spot, albeit by a smaller margin, after also having a bye week.
In fact, no team within the top six moved places with Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, Washington and Oklahoma all winning during the week, albeit not all by a convincing fashion.
The Crimson Tide of Alabama jumped up two spots to No. 9 after recording a comeback win over Tennessee in Tuscaloosa. The Tide erased a 20-7 halftime deficit to win 34-20.
As for the Vols, their collapse saw them drop four spots down to No. 21 as they fell to 5-2 on the season in a gut-punch defeat. UT will be Kentucky’s first opponent out of the bye week.
Both of the other ranked SEC teams, No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 15 LSU, saw increases to their rankings after the Rebels picked up a road win over Auburn to move up one spot and the Tigers handily defeated Army 62-0 to jump four spots.
In the list of teams who received votes but didn’t crack the actual rankings, Florida slotted in just outside the top 25 with 34 votes, placing them No. 26. The Gators also enjoyed a bye week, but their total number of votes did not change between weeks eight and nine.
As for Kentucky’s in-state rivals Louisville, the Cardinals saw a three spot increase during their bye week. Tennessee, No. 20 Duke and No. 24 USC had all been slotted above UofL, but suffered disappointing losses that led to substantial drops. The Blue Devils dropped four spots after an 18-point loss to No. 4 Florida State and the Trojans suffered a second-consecutive loss, this time against No. 13 Utah, and dropped six spots.
The week nine poll only saw one newcomer become ranked with James Madison improving to 7-0 in a notable 20-9 win over Marshall. The Dukes remain ineligible for a bowl due to the transition to FBS despite being on their way to a second-consecutive Sun Belt division championship. The Iowa Hawkeyes were the team that dropped out.
Kentucky will look to earn its way back into the AP Top 25 in week 10 when it faces the Vols at Kroger Field. Kick off against Tennessee is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.
