At the beginning of the season, if you tried telling somebody that in mid-October, the Kentucky Wildcats would have a better record than LSU, you’d be deemed crazy. If you went further, and said that Kentucky would have any chance of hanging in with those same Tigers, that would simply be blasphemy. Even if you tried to predict that UK would be 5-1 and 2-1 in SEC play to this point, on the verge of cracking the Top 25, well don’t worry, I’m positive nobody had the nerve to predict that.
The awesome thing is that everything I mentioned above is somehow true. Kentucky is off to it’s best start since 2007, their only loss an overtime defeat in the Swamp against Florida, a game that UK honestly should have won. They’ve moved past that though, winning three consecutive games, including their last two SEC games against Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Now, LSU comes next.
Oct 11, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) reacts after he scored a touchdown against the Florida Gators during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. LSU Tigers defeated the Florida Gators 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Tigers of Louisiana State are currently 5-2 (1-2 SEC), coming off a very narrow victory against Florida. It’s been hard to rate how LSU’s team has been this season. Yeah they already have two losses in SEC play, yeah they were both blowout deadbeats, but they were also to Mississippi State and Auburn, and we know how good both of them are.
Both teams are on the outside of Top 25 rankings looking, for Kentucky this was expected. For LSU, not so much. Both teams are getting votes to get into the Top 25, however. For LSU, expected, for UK, not even close to expected. LSU just missed the cut, receiving 67 Top 25 points. That’s good for #27 on national rankings, right behind UCLA.
After their 48-14 drubbing of UL-Monroe, Kentucky received 36 Top 25 votes. That puts the young Cats at #29 in national ranking, officially cracking the top thirty. That #28 team that’s in between them, are the Duke Blue Devils (45 votes). The winner of Saturday’s game is almost guaranteed to sneak into the Top 25.
Saturday night’s game is in Baton Rouge, which is obviously not an easy place for a young, opposing team to win at. However, I fully believe that Kentucky can hang in with LSU, and quite possibly steal the win and become bowl eligible. Those odds experts over in party-town Vegas fully disagree with me, they put LSU as a 10.5 point favorite to win.
Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs running back Josh Robinson (13) gestures to the crowd as he celebrates his touchdown against the Auburn Tigers during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s just say that Kentucky can pull this off, this win would likely put Kentucky into the top 20. Heck, maybe they can get ranked higher (Example: Arizona). I’d say #17 would be reasonable. In that case, the following week’s matchup would be #1 Mississippi State @ #17 Kentucky, in Commonwealth Stadium, kind’ve like what happened in 2007. I’m just saying.