LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Kentucky won't be ranked in the Top 25 of the Associated Press college football poll when it arrives Saturday morning. I have uncovered one ranking where the Wildcats did crack the Top 30:
It is Scout.com's analysis of the 2009 college football recruiting classes. The Wildcats were ranked 27th. This was a group that elevated expectations in Lexington that have not been met.
For Kentucky, it was the class highlighted by Morgan Newton, Donte Rumph, Ryan Mossakowski and DeQuin Evans, all 4-star recruits.
It is also a class that was supposed to feature Qua Huzzie, Ridge Wilson and Jarvis Walker, 3-star guys no longer part of Joker Phillips' team.
According to Scout, that 2009 class was the best recruiting group that Kentucky has assembled in the last 11 years.
How much love did that class inspire?
Plenty. Scout ranked Kentucky one spot behind Oregon. The Ducks, of course, are scheduled to be part of the national championship hunt for the third consecutive season. The Ducks have guys on the fast track to the NFL.
Here are other programs that were ranked behind UK's 2009 class: Georgia Tech (32), Nebraska (33), Michigan State (37), North Carolina State (39), Virginia Tech (41), Clemson (42), Wisconsin (51), TCU (54) and Boise State (60).
All nine of those teams are ranked ahead of Kentucky in Sports Illustrated's current pre-season Top 25.
It's against the law to write about UK recruiting without mentioning the University of Louisville. In 2009, Steve Kragthorpe's final class was ranked 64 by Scout.
Let me share a final indicator of how unusual it was for Kentucky to sign a Top 30 class: The average ranking of the seven UK football classes that preceded the 2009 group was 55.
The 2009 class was supposed to be loaded with ability and adrenaline, talent that made it safe to wonder if Kentucky could escape fifth place in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division.
They were the prospects who became interested in the program after the Wildcats toppled top-ranked Louisiana State to highlight the remarkable 8-5 2007 season and then signed with Kentucky after the Wildcats beat Arkansas while finishing in 2008. Remember, Kentucky came to Louisville and defeated the Cardinals, 27-2, in 2008.
It hasn't happened. Now the Class of 2009 returns for year four, surrounded by predictions of a seventh-place finish in the SEC East. They'll roll into Louisville for UK's season opener as14-point underdogs.
No wonder there is unrest in the UK fan base. They expected more. Recruiting rankings can do that to a program.
What happened?
Of the 30 guys listed by Scout, four were junior-college guys. They're gone.
That leaves 26 players. Half are no longer with the team.
Mossakowski injured his shoulder, lost a competition with Newton and left for a junior-college. He'll wear Number 5 and should start when Lamar University, an FCS program, opens its season against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Running back Donald Russell also left. You can find him on the media guide cover at Georgia State, where Russell averaged 5.2 yards per carry and scored nine touchdowns for Bill Curry in 2011.
What about the 13 players who are preparing for this season at Kentucky?
Six should start, highlighted by offensive guard Larry Warford, who has developed nicely from a three-star recruit to one of the finest blockers in the SEC. Rumph and Mister Cobble provide the muscle in the Wildcats' defensive line.
The biggest enigma remains Newton. He is trying to win the quarterback spot from Maxwell Smith.
A look at the Scout 2009 national quarterback rankings delivers a firm reminder that Newton was not expected to be fighting to stay on the field during his senior year. Scout ranked him sixth nationally, ahead of Geno Smith (West Virginia), Zach Mettenberger (Louisiana State) and A.J. McCarron (Alabama), guys who are expected to be prime performers this season.
It hasn't worked out that way for Newton – or for most members of what was supposed to be Kentucky's signature recruiting class.
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Quarterback Ryan Mossakowski was one of four 4-star prospects in UK's 2009 football recruiting class.
