Kentucky in Top 5 of SEC Football Sports Information Directors poll

Every summer, the SEC’s sports information directors (SIDs) release their own preseason football poll through AL.com/The Birmingham News. This year, Kentucky cracked the top five. The Cats totaled 111 votes, which ranks fifth behind Alabama (167), Georgia (158), Texas A&M (144), and Arkansas (116). If you look at the vote breakdown, Kentucky was picked to finish anywhere from third to ninth, with the most votes coming for the Cats in fourth place.

Kentucky and Tennessee tied for second in the SEC East behind the reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs, with one wise soul going with the Cats to finish first. Here are the votes in table form:

SEC East Projected Order of Finish

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
Georgia	6						36
Kentucky	1	2	3				28
Tennessee		4	2				28
Florida		1	2	3			22
South Carolina				4	2		16
Missouri					5	1	11
Vanderbilt						6	6

Chris Rodriguez voted First Team All-SEC

The SIDs also picked preseason All-SEC teams. Chris Rodriguez is Kentucky’s sole representative on the First Team alongside Auburn running back Tank Bigsby (what a name). Rodriguez is the SEC’s top returning rusher, totaling 1,379 rushing yards last season. He ranked second in the SEC and 12th nationally, averaging 106.1 yards per game. His nine 100-yard rushing games in 2021 were a new single-season school record. Most impressively, Rodriguez has only lost yardage on 13 of his 417 career rushing attempts.

Kenneth Horsey got Second Team honors at guard. The senior from Sanford, Florida is Kentucky’s most experienced lineman, with 25 career games and 21 career starts. He and Eli Cox are the only returning starters on the Big Blue Wall.

Where is Will Levis on this list? Alabama‘s Bryce Young was named First Team quarterback, while Tennessee‘s Hendon Hooker made the Second Team. Pfft. We’ll see about that in November.