Kentucky alone atop the SEC and in line for college football's best resume

Kentucky heads into its open week alone in first place in the SEC. Saturday's 34-17 win over Vanderbilt moved the Wildcats to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in league play. Georgia had a bye, so Kentucky now has more conference wins than anyone else in the league and will stay on top for at least another week, as A Sea of Blue, SB Nation's Kentucky site, pointed out. Georgia is the only other SEC team with one loss. Every other team has lost at least twice.

The national picture moved too. ESPN's Strength of Record had Kentucky second last week, behind BYU. BYU then lost 39-31 in double overtime to UCF, so A Sea of Blue expects the Wildcats to take the top spot. That is a projection until ESPN refreshes the ranking. Other results also helped Kentucky's case. South Carolina, which Kentucky beat in Columbia, knocked off Tennessee 27-24 to reach 4-3. LSU won 38-17 at Auburn, the same Auburn team that beat Georgia the week before. Oklahoma won 23-15 at Mississippi State.

Against Vanderbilt, the win took a while. On3 wrote that the Commodores controlled the first quarter before Kentucky took over. Kenny Minchey threw for 203 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score, according to The Associated Press. The AP also noted that the win ended a two-game losing streak against Vanderbilt. Freshman quarterback Jared Curtis threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns for the Commodores, who are still looking for their first conference win.

What it means for Tennessee

Kentucky's next game is Saturday, November 7, at No. 11 Tennessee. It starts a closing stretch of three SEC games against Tennessee, Florida and Missouri, all ranked in the AP's most recent mention. Kentucky has one more loss to give than every SEC contender except Georgia, but the hardest part of the league schedule is still ahead.

Six straight wins since the 45-17 home loss to Alabama show how Kentucky has built this record. The Wildcats are 3-0 on the road, with a 31-21 win at then-No. 9 Texas A&M, a 35-34 win at South Carolina and a 21-13 win at Oklahoma. They also beat then-No. 10 LSU 35-34 at home. Through eight games they have outscored opponents 263-198, an average of about 32.9 points scored and 24.8 allowed.

The close finishes are part of the record too. Kentucky won two straight SEC games by a single point, and only the Vanderbilt win came by more than 10 points in the past four games. Its defense has allowed 21 points or fewer in four of the last six games. The Oklahoma win, held to 13 points, came on the road.

Tennessee comes in after a three-point loss in Columbia. The Vols will host a Kentucky team that will have had two weeks to prepare. If Kentucky wins at Neyland Stadium, it would keep its one-game edge over everyone but Georgia and strengthen its national resume. A loss would leave the Wildcats tied in the loss column with the group of two-loss teams, with Florida and Missouri still to play.