This isn’t your average college football ranking.
My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it’s my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:
- Who do I think is good?
- Why do I think they’re good?
- What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?
Here’s a have a look at the place Kentucky lands in my Final 136.
Kentucky Wildcats rating: 52
Final 12 months’s rating: 28
Prime participant: QB Zach Calzada: 38 profession video games (Incarnate Phrase and Texas A&M) going 23-9 as a starter; has thrown for 8,707 yards and 73 TDs in his collegiate profession.
RJ’s take: It’s laborious to search out one other SEC coach who likes SEC transfers greater than Mark Stoops. This 12 months he’ll discipline former Texas A&M QB Calzada (by means of Incarnate Word), Oklahoma RB Seth McGowan (by means of New Mexico State), Alabama WR Kendrick Law and Oklahoma WR J.J. Hester.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that Calzada and Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt) are the one two QBs taking part in this 12 months who’ve crushed No. 1-ranked Alabama, and Calzada did it with Nick Saban on the sideline. Stoops will want that form of mojo after a 4-8 season that left many Kentucky followers questioning simply the way it received that dangerous this quick? Effectively, I will let you know: The Wildcats are simply 2-12 in opposition to SEC opponents of their final 14 house video games and 7-18 in opposition to opponents for whom it simply means extra since 2022.
Maybe that is the time to remind UK followers that Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Ole Miss all come to Lexington in 2025.
[Check out RJ Young’s Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]
Kentucky Win Whole Odds: Over 4.5 (-105) Beneath 4.5 (-115)
Have a problem with my rankings? Assume your alma mater is just too low, or your college’s rival is just too excessive? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I will choose my favourite tweets and reply to them in a future article.
RJ Young is a nationwide faculty soccer author and analyst for FOX Sports activities. Observe him at @RJ_Young.
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