Wildcats snubbed from the AP Poll but still a Top 25 team in the ESPN FPI rankings

It was a chaotic week in college football as the Kentucky Wildcats could only look on. A bowl of popcorn as the rest of the FBS football world descended into madness. Upsets are all over the place, and most benefit the Wildcats in one way or another. Whether it was seeing rivals lose like the Tennessee Volunteers and the Lousiville Cardinals or huge upsets like Vanderbilt beating Alabama. This Vanderbilt upset was massive for Kentucky, as they don't have Alabama on their schedule, so that they couldn't beat the Crimson Tide themselves, but they do have Vanderbilt next week.

However, it wasn't a great week for Kentucky in the rankings. While so much shuffling was happening, Kentucky's top 25 ranking had its own bye week. Teams moved all around them while the Wildcats were essentially stuck in place.

They were left off the AP Top 25 completely, receiving only one vote. It appears that vote came from Brett McMurphy, who posted his ballot:

That being said, Kentucky remained in the top 25 in the ESPN FPI ranking after soaring up it last week in their big upset over the Ole Miss Rebels. They are ranked exactly 25 in that computer calculation of the best team in college football.

If you don't know or don't remember what the ESPN FPI is - here is how ESPN describes it, "The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule."

Kentucky was sitting at #23 last week in the FPI with a score of 9.5. Since they were on their bye week, that score didn't change. You have to play games to get a change in your calculation and so they sit at the same score. The reason the Wildcats dropped is because Tulane and Arkansas both moved up the rankings with strong outings in their respective last games, giving them higher scores than 9.5, moving the Wildcats down two spots.

This week will be a big test for Kentucky as it will be a battle for the upset kings. The Wildcats have to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores, who are coming off the biggest upset in their history over Alabama 40-35. A win this week would change a lot for their rankings both in the AP poll and in the ESPN FPI.