The SEC is no stranger to dominant football programs making their name known in the AP Top 25. The Saban regime is a testament to that. In the past six years, Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have staked claim as well. When people think of SEC dominance; those two programs come to mind first and foremost, but this year has other SEC programs turning heads for all the best reasons.
Specifically, the SEC east has turned a new leaf as of 2022; with Tennessee blazing a new trail under Josh Heupel and Kentucky joining in the top 10 as well. The SEC has a whopping seven teams represented in the rankings as well as four teams in the top 10. Let’s focus specifically on the Volunteers for a moment. Rocky Top is 4-0 for the first time since 2016. I think it’s safe to say that Josh Heupel was a huge bullseye for Big Orange Country. He has stated countless times how much he truly cares about this program and is proving that he will do what is necessary to see it succeed. The Volunteers have a bye week before traveling to Baton Rouge to battle the LSU Tigers in Death Valley.
Now onto another SEC program that is turning heads, the Kentucky Wildcats. The Penn State transfer Will Levis is building off last year’s success and Mark Stoops is making the SEC east battle fun again with their resurgence. The Wildcats have a very good offense and a stout defensive at times. Kentucky comes into the week five poll ranked one spot higher than the Volunteers at number seven; while Tennessee is slotted into number eight. All bias aside, seeing the Wildcats move up confuses me, even if it was only one spot. After the scare that Northern Illinois gave Big Blue Nation, I would have thought that Kentucky would have at least stayed in their previous ranking. They did get the win so that’s a bright spot, but even if they didn’t fall down in the rankings, this past game has shaken my faith in the legitimacy of Kentucky as contenders.
The full Week 5 Ap Top 25 Rankings are as follows:
- Georgia (4-0)
- Alabama (4-0)
- Ohio State (4-0)
- Michigan (4-0)
- Clemson (4-0)
- USC (4-0)
- Kentucky (4-0)
- Tennessee (4-0)
- Oklahoma State (4-0)
- North Carolina State (4-0)
- Penn State (4-0)
- Utah (3-1)
- Oregon (3-1)
- Ole Miss (4-0)
- Washington (4-0)
- Baylor (3-1)
- Texas A&M (3-1)
- Oklahoma (3-1)
- BYU (3-1)
- Arkansas (3-1)
- Minnesota (4-0)
- Wake Forest (3-1)
- Florida State (4-0)
- Pittsburgh (3-1)
- Kansas State (3-1)
