Kentucky Football Weekly Update: Week 7 (EDITED & UPDATED)
By Will
In what may become a regular feature (if work rears its ugly head it’ll probably disappear), Allenby For Heisman! hopes to take a weekly look at the University of Kentucky’s place in the world of college football.
So, we didn’t have time to put this together two weeks ago and instead threw up this half-hearted post. The football gods were not impressed, and Kentucky played its worst game of the season and lost to South Carolina.
Last week we again didn’t have time to put the Weekly Update together, so we simply posted nothing. No more mailing it in from us, then. Let’s get to it after the jump.
BCS Standings. Two weeks ago the Cats appeared in ESPN.com’s Power 16 for the first time ever, and this week the Cats showed up in the Bowl Championship Series Standings — this week’s standings are the season’s first — for the first time in school history. Kentucky has a BCS ranking of No. 7. In the individual components of the BCS, Kentucky is No. 11 in the Harris Poll, No. 13 in the Coaches’ Poll, and has a computer rating of .850%, which is the fifth fourth best computer ranking (we’re not so good at the counting). [Link] (Saturday’s opponent, Florida, has a BCS ranking of No. 15.)
Associated Press Poll. Kentucky is ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll, up from No. 17 last week. [Link] (Florida is No. 14.)
CBSSports. Kentucky rose from No. 17 to No. 7 in the CBSSports.com 120. [Link] (Florida is No. 13). CBSSports has the Cats in the Outback Bowl against Penn State in Tampa, Florida, on January 1. [Link]
SI.com. Kentucky rose from No. 17 to No. 7 in Stewart Mandel’s Power Rankings. Refreshingly, Mandel acknowledged the Cats’ improvement on the defensive side of the ball:
Obviously QB Andre Woodson and WR Steve Johnson stole the show in Saturday’s dramatic win over top-ranked LSU, but the real surprise was the Wildcats’ pass-rush. DE Ventrell Jackson led the charge as Kentucky notched three sacks, an interception and held the Tigers to just 142 passing yards.
[Link] (Mandel has Florida at No. 11.)
FOXSports. Kentucky is No. 14 in the CollegeFootballNews.com Rankings at FOXSports.com:
The Ranking Should Be Higher Because … the team just beat the number one team in America! Shouldn’t it be ranked ahead of LSU? Here’s the problem; where do you put South Carolina (who lost to LSU but beat Kentucky)? Beat Florida this week, and then you’re in the top five. It’s a promise.
The Ranking Should Be Lower Because … it shouldn’t be. No arguments here if you want to put the Cats in the top 10, or higher.
[Link] (Florida is No. 5.)
ESPN.com. After losing to South Carolina, Kentucky dropped out of the Power 16 (but was second in the ‘others receiving votes’ column). This week the Cats are No. 8:
Andre’ Woodson knows how to step up when it counts the most. In the Wildcats’ three biggest games of the season (Louisville, South Carolina and LSU), Woodson has thrown nine TDs and only three picks.
[Link] (Florida is No. 13.)
In their updated bowl projections, senior writers Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach project Kentucky in the Outback Bowl and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, respectively. Maisel sees Kentucky facing Penn State while Schlabach sees a match-up with West Virginia. [Link] (We’re compelled to note Schlabach is eating a considerable amount of crow with this projection. He left the Cats for dead in the wake of their disappointing defeat at South Carolina.)
Sagarin Rankings. Kentucky is No. 9 in the latest rankings. (Florida is No. 10.) [Link]
Vegas Oddsmakers’ Top 25. Vegas still sees the Cats as a fraud. Kentucky comes in at No. 17 in the Oddsmakers’ poll. The incomparable Dan Steinberg explains:
Biggest frauds, according to Vegas: South Florida and Kentucky continue to be massively overrated by the AP, nine spots this week. . . .
. . .
Games to watch: Majorly underrated Florida plays at majorly overrated Kentucky. Expect a Florida win.
[Link]
Andre’ Woodson Heisman Watch: After a starring role versus LSU, Woodson came in at No. 3 in the ESPN Expert Poll [Link] and No. 2 in the CBSSports.com Experts Poll, but failed to crack the top-10 of Gene Menez’s Heisman Watch [Link]. (Courier-Journal UK Fan Blogger Chris Diggs was understandably upset with Menez). HeismanPundit.com says Woodson would finish fourth if the vote were held this week:
4. Andre Woodson, Kentucky: Woodson rescued his Heisman hopes by leading the Cats to a win over LSU. He is on pace for over 3,000 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and just 7 picks. If the Cats win out and win the SEC title game then his case for the Heisman may be too great to ignore.
[Link]
Onward and upward!