First-year coach Will Stein isn’t ecstatic over Kentucky’s lofty No. 6 ranking heading into Saturday evening’s Southeastern Conference showdown against No. 13 Tennessee in Knoxville.
He is adamant that the College Football Playoff rankings are a low priority to him.
“It has nothing to do with anything,” Stein said Tuesday, hours before the first rankings of the season were revealed. “You know, as easily as you can get into those rankings, you can get out of them quickly, too. So it’s really just about our approach, our mindset, and going out and playing a really good team, and ultimately working to get a win on the road again.”
The Wildcats (7-1, 5-1) have six straight wins during their surprise campaign, but they traditionally don’t experience much success in Knoxville. Kentucky has lost 19 of its past 20 games there, and its one victory came in the COVID-ravaged 2020 season, when there was limited fan attendance.
Stein said he will not be discussing the long-term issues in Knoxville with his current crop of Wildcats.
“No, we don’t talk about anything that happened in the past,” Stein said. “There’s really no reason to. It doesn’t do anything with our current team. Most of these environments, if not all, play a factor in your approach.
“Tennessee, in particular, is one of the most hostile environments in all of college football.”
Kentucky is tied with second-ranked Georgia for first place in the SEC. Tennessee (6-2, 3-2) is part of a four-team tie for fifth place. Both the Wildcats and Volunteers are coming off a bye.
The Volunteers are on the outside of the 12-team playoff. They are coming off a dreadful 27-24 loss to host South Carolina on Oct. 24.
Volunteers coach Josh Heupel said Monday that limiting distractions is a big part of college football in November.
“There’s always a ton of noise outside of your building,” he said. “There can be a lot of things that you can get caught up in. If you get caught up in things that don’t matter, rankings coming out, whatever it might be, you have no chance to go finish and play the way that you need to every single week.
“We got one opponent this week — it’s Kentucky. It’s the biggest game of the year because that’s who we play.”
The Volunteers have defeated the Wildcats five straight times, including a 56-34 road victory last season.
While Saturday’s meeting will be the 122nd on the field — Tennessee’s 2019 victory was vacated due to NCAA violations — it will mark just the fourth time that both teams are ranked. The others were 1950, 1951 and 2022.
Heupel said he is concerned about this Kentucky team.
“You look at their ability to win multiple ways. Finish games, turnover margin, they’ve been elite,” he said of the vastly improved Wildcats. “One of the least penalized teams in the league. Playing really smart in all three phases, so it’ll be a great test, and we are looking forward to it.”
Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre will make his fourth straight start. He has passed for 728 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions.
Volunteers running back DeSean Bishop is sixth nationally with 957 rushing yards as he seeks his second straight 1,000-yard campaign. He also has rushed for 11 scores. Defensive end Tyree Weathersby has a team-best seven sacks.
Kentucky quarterback Kenny Minchey has thrown 14 touchdown passes against just one interception. He has passed for 1,755 yards.
Star safeties Jordan Castell (one touchdown) and Ty Bryant share the Wildcats’ lead of four interceptions, which is tied for sixth nationally. Kentucky has a plus-13 turnover margin (18 takeaways, five giveaways), which ranks fourth in the nation.