Ole Miss will come to Kentucky as a Top 20 team

Ole Miss will come to Kroger Field as a top-20 team, top-15 according to one poll. The new AP and Coaches Polls are out. The Rebels are No. 20 in the new AP Poll, up one spot from the preseason version. They also climbed a spot in the Coaches Poll after the 63-7 win over Georgia State, up to No. 14.

There’s a new No. 1 team in the country in both polls, Ohio State, which should not surprise you after the opening weekend. The Buckeyes earned 55 of the 66 first-place votes in the AP Poll after beating Texas, the preseason No. 1 team, in Columbus. Penn State remains No. 2, followed by LSU (No. 3), Georgia (No. 4), and Miami (No. 5). The Longhorns are down to No. 7.

Ten SEC teams made the Top 25 of the AP Poll, six of which the Cats will face this season. South Carolina climbed to No. 10 after its win over Virginia Tech. Florida is up two spots to No. 13, and spots No. 18 to No. 22 are all SEC: Oklahoma (No. 18), Texas A&M (No. 19), Ole Miss (No. 20), Alabama (No. 21), and Tennessee (No. 22). The Crimson Tide took the biggest drop, falling 13 spots after the loss at Florida State. The Seminoles were unranked but are now No. 14 in the AP Poll after the 31-17 victory. Two more SEC teams received votes: Auburn and Missouri.

As expected, Kentucky did not receive votes in either poll; however, the Cats did move up in one ranking. Each week this season, The Athletic’s Chris Vannini ranks all 136 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Kentucky was No. 70 in the preseason version. After the win over Toledo, the Cats are up two spots to No. 68. Ole Miss is No. 19.

Here is where all of Kentucky’s foes stand in The Athletic All-136 Rankings.

• Toledo: No. 70
• Ole Miss: No. 19
• Eastern Michigan: No. 114
• South Carolina: No. 12
• Georgia: No. 9
• Texas: No. 5
• Tennessee: No. 25
• Auburn: No. 15
• Florida: No. 18
• Vanderbilt: No. 46
• Louisville: No. 27

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AP College Football Poll – September 2

Rank	Team	Record	Trend	Opponent & Result	Points (1st)
1	Ohio State	1-0	+2	vs. Texas W 14-7	1636 (55)
2	Penn State	1-0	–	vs. Nevada W 46-11	1558 (7)
3	LSU	1-0	+6	@ Clemson W 17-10	1514 (3)
4	Georgia	1-0	+1	vs. Marshall W 45-7	1410 (0)
5	Miami (FL)	1-0	+5	vs. Notre Dame W 27-24	1360 (0)
6	Oregon	1-0	+1	vs. Montana State W 59-13	1302 (1)
7	Texas	0-1	-6	@ Ohio State L 14-7	1293 (0)
8	Clemson	0-1	-4	vs. LSU L 17-10	1135 (0)
9	Notre Dame	0-1	-3	@ Miami (FL) L 27-24	1068 (0)
10	South Carolina	0-0	+3	vs. Virginia Tech W 24-11	882 (0)
11	Illinois	1-0	+1	vs. Western Illinois W 52-3	855 (0)
12	Arizona State	1-0	-1	vs. Northern Arizona W 38-19	850 (0)
13	Florida	1-0	+2	vs. LIU W 55-0	737 (0)
14	Florida State	1-0	–	vs. Alabama W 31-17	705 (0)
15	Michigan	1-0	-1	vs. New Mexico W 34-17	686 (0)
16	Iowa State	2-0	+6	vs. South Dakota W 55-7	566 (0)
17	SMU	1-0	-1	vs. East Texas A&M W 42-13	561 (0)
18	Oklahoma	1-0	–	vs. Illinois State W 35-3	519 (0)
19	Texas A&M	1-0	–	vs. UTSA W 42-24	424 (0)
20	Ole Miss	1-0	+1	vs. Georgia State W 63-7	393 (0)
21	Alabama	0-1	-13	@ Florida State L 31-17	360 (0)
22	Tennessee	1-0	+2	vs. Syracuse W 45-26	339 (0)
23	Indiana	1-0	-3	vs. Old Dominion W 27-14	257 (0)
24	Texas Tech	1-0	-1	vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff W 67-7	247 (0)
25	Utah	1-0	–	@ UCLA W 43-10	227 (0)

Others receiving votes: BYU 102, Auburn 94, Georgia Tech 67, Southern Cal 64, Louisville 59, TCU 49, Missouri 42, South Florida 25, Tulane 18, Nebraska 13, Kansas St. 7, James Madison 4, Liberty 4, UNLV 4, Duke 4, Navy 2, Pittsburgh 2, Baylor 2, Virginia 2, Memphis 2.

USA Today Coaches Poll – September 2

Rank	Team	Record	PTS (1st)	Prev	Chg
1	Ohio State	1-0	1666 (59)	2	+1
2	Penn State	1-0	1574 (6)	3	+1
3	Georgia	1-0	1518 (1)	4	+1
4	LSU	1-0	1469 (1)	9	+5
5	Oregon	1-0	1381	7	+2
6	Texas	0-1	1339	1	-5
7	Miami (FL)	1-0	1304	10	+3
8	Clemson	0-1	1067	6	-2
9	Notre Dame	0-1	1038	5	-4
10	Arizona State	1-0	957	11	+1
11	South Carolina	1-0	915	13	+2
12	Illinois	1-0	909	12	–
13	Michigan	1-0	725	14	+1
14	Ole Miss	1-0	668	15	+1
15	Florida	1-0	638	17	+2
16	SMU	1-0	602	16	–
17	Tennessee	1-0	563	18	+1
18	Iowa State	2-0	518	21	+3
19	Florida State	1-0	491	NR	+28
20	Alabama	0-1	390	8	-12
21	Indiana	1-0	369	19	-2
22	Texas A&M	1-0	363	21	-1
23	Texas Tech	1-0	253	24	+1
24	Oklahoma	1-0	251	NR	+2
25	BYU	1-0	163	23	-2

Schools Dropped Out: No. 20 Kansas State; No. 25 Boise State;

Others Receiving Votes: Utah 117; Louisville 95; Missouri 88; Kansas State 79; Tulane 45; USC 41; Auburn 41; TCU 33; Iowa 23; Navy 17; Georgia Tech 17; Nebraska 13; Memphis 11; South Florida 9; Duke 5; Kansas 4; Washington 3; Vanderbilt 2; FIU 1