College Football

2025 Kentucky Football Predictions: Wildcats Ranked 52nd in RJ Young's Ultimate 136

Published Aug. 10, 2025 9:05 p.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

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 is a look at where Kentucky lands in my Ultimate 136.

Kentucky Wildcats ranking: 52
Last year’s ranking: 28
Top player: QB Zach Calzada: 38 career games (Incarnate Word and Texas A&M) going 23-9 as a starter; has thrown for 8,707 yards and 73 TDs in his collegiate career.

[Kentucky's 2025 schedule]

RJ's take: It’s hard to find another SEC coach who likes SEC transfers more than Mark Stoops. This year he’ll field former Texas A&M QB Calzada (by way of Incarnate Word), Oklahoma RB Seth McGowan (by way 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 only two QBs playing this year who have beaten No. 1-ranked Alabama, and Calzada did it with Nick Saban on the sideline. Stoops will need that kind of mojo after a 4-8 season that left many Kentucky fans wondering just how it got that bad this fast? Well, I'll tell you: The Wildcats are just 2-12 against SEC opponents in their last 14 home games and 7-18 against opponents for whom it just means more since 2022.

Perhaps this is the time to remind UK fans 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 Total Odds: Over 4.5 (-105) Under 4.5 (-115)

Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.