Kentucky Gains Points but Falls Out as SMU and Pitt Take the Last Two Spots

Kentucky won and gained ten AP poll points, yet fell out of the Top 25 in the October 4 edition. The Wildcats finished with 160 points, two behind No. 25 Pitt and seven behind No. 24 SMU.

Kentucky also appeared on more ballots than SMU, 38 to 36. That comparison exposes the distinction between making a voter’s Top 25 and earning a strong placement within it: the poll adds weighted points, rather than simply counting how many voters include each team.

SMU’s Higher Placements Offset Fewer Inclusions

AP awards 25 points for first, declining to one for 25th. A No. 20 vote is worth six points, while a No. 25 vote is worth one. An omitted team contributes zero points from that ballot.

Team	AP Position	Points	Ranked on Ballots	Omitted From Ballots	Average Points per Inclusion
SMU	24	167	36 of 70	34 of 70	4.64
Pitt	25	162	42 of 70	28 of 70	3.86
Kentucky	Not Ranked	160	38 of 70	32 of 70	4.21

SMU earned more points per included vote than either rival. Brian Fonseca ranked the Mustangs 13th and Madison Hricik placed them 14th, contributions worth 13 and 12 points. Those two votes supplied 25 of SMU’s 167 points.

Pitt had the broadest inclusion of the three. Its 42 votes overcame a lower average point value, although there was substantial disagreement within that group: Stephen Means ranked Pitt 11th, while 22 of its voters placed it 24th or 25th.

Who Dropped SMU and Kentucky

SMU lost 79 points and fell three places despite its 25–16 win over Boston College. Thirteen voters who included the Mustangs last week omitted them this week, while one previously omitting voter added them. Inclusion fell from 48 ballots to 36.

Rece Davis dropped SMU after ranking it 22nd, and Jon Wilner left it out after a No. 24 placement. They are among the 13 new omissions, distinct from the 21 voters who omitted SMU in both editions.

Kentucky’s 35–34 overtime win over South Carolina was followed by ten voters dropping the Wildcats and 14 adding them. Nicole Auerbach omitted Kentucky after ranking it 20th; Means omitted it after putting it 24th. Twenty-two other voters left Kentucky out in both editions.

Pitt’s expansion was much larger: 28 voters added it and only Greg Luca dropped it, after a No. 23 vote. Pitt went from 15 inclusions to 42 and gained 110 points, from 52 to 162. The complete omission lists show who left each team out, with their prior placements, so readers can distinguish a new exclusion from a continuing one.

Every Omission at the Cutoff

These lists distinguish newly dropped teams from omissions repeated across both weeks.

SMU: 34 Omissions

Voter	Week 4 Placement	Week 5 Status
Adam Lichtenstein	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Andy Kendeigh	No. 22	New Omission
Bob Ballou	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Brian Howell	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Chris Murray	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Creg Stephenson	No. 25	New Omission
Dave Preston	No. 22	New Omission
David Briggs	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
David Jablonski	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Dylan Sinn	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Garland Gillen	No. 23	New Omission
Greg Luca	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Henry Greenstein	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Ian Kress	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Javon Edmonds	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Joe Arruda	No. 25	New Omission
John Johnson	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Jon Wilner	No. 24	New Omission
Julian Mininsohn	No. 20	New Omission
Keara Bruno	No. 20	New Omission
Kirk Bohls	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Koki Riley	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Matthew McGavic	No. 22	New Omission
Murray Evans	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Nicole Auerbach	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Pat Welter	No. 22	New Omission
Ralph Russo	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Randy Johnson	No. 24	New Omission
Rece Davis	No. 22	New Omission
Sarah Hughes	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Sean Reider	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Spencer Ripchik	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Stephen Means	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Ty Hildenbrandt	No. 22	New Omission

Pitt: 28 Omissions

Voter	Week 4 Placement	Week 5 Status
Alex Taylor	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Bob Ballou	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Brenna Greene	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Chelsie Brown	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Chris Murray	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Creg Stephenson	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
David Paschall	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Eric Hansen	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Greg Luca	No. 23	New Omission
Jamal St. Cyr	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
John Johnson	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Jon Wilner	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Keara Bruno	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Kirk Kenney	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Koki Riley	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Lee K. Howard	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Madison Hricik	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Michael Katz	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Mike Hill	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Mike Jacques	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Murray Evans	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Nicole Auerbach	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Pete Yanity	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Rece Davis	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Ryan Zuke	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Scott Hamilton	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Trevor Hass	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Ty Hildenbrandt	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks

Kentucky: 32 Omissions

Voter	Week 4 Placement	Week 5 Status
Adam Lichtenstein	No. 23	New Omission
Andy Kendeigh	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Andy Yamashita	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
BJ Rains	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Bob Asmussen	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Chris Carter	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Creg Stephenson	No. 22	New Omission
David Briggs	No. 21	New Omission
Dylan Sinn	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Eric Johnson	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Henry Greenstein	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Javon Edmonds	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Jon Wilner	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Josh Furlong	No. 23	New Omission
Kate Rogerson	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Keara Bruno	No. 25	New Omission
Kevin Carter	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Kirk Kenney	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Koki Riley	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Lia Assimakopoulos	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Louie Vaccher	No. 23	New Omission
Madison Hricik	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Mike Jacques	No. 25	New Omission
Nick Jacobs	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Nicole Auerbach	No. 20	New Omission
Ralph Russo	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Randy Johnson	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Rece Davis	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Sarah Hughes	No. 21	New Omission
Stephen Means	No. 24	New Omission
Tom Murphy	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks
Ty Hildenbrandt	Not Ranked	Omitted Both Weeks

A Ten-Point Gain Was Not Enough

Kentucky’s total rose from 150 to 160 as Pitt’s rose from 52 to 162. SMU’s total fell from 246 to 167 but remained slightly higher than both. A positive point change therefore did not guarantee Kentucky a place: two other teams finished with enough points to claim the final spots.

Pitt gained far more support, and SMU’s stronger included placements preserved a seven-point edge over Kentucky despite appearing on two fewer ballots. Kentucky improved its own total without improving it enough to remain ranked.