How Kentucky and Ole Miss stack up in SEC Power Rankings ahead of Saturday's game

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops (left) and Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin (right) talk prior tot the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Ole Miss comes to Lexington this Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET | ABC) as the betting favorite to take down Kentucky, but how do the Rebels and Wildcats stack up against the rest of the SEC?

The SEC Network’s Dari Nowkhah, Alyssa Lang, Benjamin Watson, and Chris Doering all got together to create their conference Power Rankings following the opening week of college football. To little surprise, the LSU Tigers were the unanimous choice for the number one spot, followed by Georgia at number two in another sweep. But that’s where the agreements stop.

Unfortunately for the Big Blue Nation, all four panelists weren’t impressed with Kentucky’s narrow 24-16 Week 1 win over Toledo. Nowkhah and Doering both have the Wildcats slotted at 15th in the SEC, while Lang and Watson have them dead-last in 16th. Totaling up the votes, that puts UK in a tie for 15th with the Bulldogs of Mississippi State.

“Both teams won their openers,” wrote the SEC Network’s Joe Menzer. The Wildcats slogging through a mistake-filled 24-16 home victory over Toledo and the Bulldogs hitting the road for a 34-17 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. But for better or worse, someone has to bring up the rear in these things. At least Nowkhah got his wish after saying (and no one could have said it better): ‘I hate having ANYBODY sitting 16^th, especially a team that looked far better than I expected (in Mississippi State). … But it’s early. There is a lot of time to let this play out.'”

Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Let’s compare that to Ole Miss, which had varying positions in these Power Rankings. Doering and Watson are the highest on the Rebels at 8th, with Lang slotting them at 9th and Nowkhah at 10th. The Rebels, now ranked 20th in the latest AP poll, blasted Georgia State 63-7 in their opener, but the box score is slightly deceiving. Ole Miss led 7-0 after the first quarter and it was a 17-7 ball game midway through the second.

Ole Miss is a 10-point favorite against Kentucky for a reason, though. The analytics already love them (sitting at 4th nationally in both of ESPN‘s Football Power Index and SP+ rankings), but the Rebels aren’t world-beaters. The SEC Network crew still views Lane Kiffin’s crew as a middle-of-the-pack team in this loaded league. Kentucky has to win a game against that caliber of opponent at some point in the season.

What about QB Power Rankings?

This list is somehow even worse for Kentucky. Michael Bratton, the host of That SEC Podcast, released his Week 2 SEC Power Rankings for all 16 of the conference’s starting quarterbacks. After a poor performance in the opener, Kentucky QB Zach Calzada was ranked dead last at 16. Calzada went 10-23 against Toledo for 85 yards with no touchdowns plus one interception. Bratton ranked Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons at 4th after he tossed for 341 yards (20-31 passing), three touchdowns, and two picks.