Kentucky football's playoff hopes are now legit

Prior to the Kentucky-LSU game, it felt like playoff hopes for the Wildcats were just that -- hopes. But now, after a 5-1 start and two top 10 wins, one of those in dominating fashion, Will Stein now has his team appearing in a number of updated playoff projections. Yes, you heard that right. Kentucky is popping up in projections of the 12-team playoff.

How high are the Wildcats? After defeating LSU, Kentucky is now ranked in the top 15 of the AP Poll and even have one of the top resumes in all of College Football. Let's take a look at a few projections and where they each have Kentucky slotted at.

Brad Crawford - CBS Sports

Crawford updated his projections late last night following all of the action and he has Kentucky in the highest seed we have seen yet. After the upset win over #10 LSU, Crawford has put the Wildcats as the 10-seed, matching up with #6 Indiana in the First Round. Here is what he had to say about Kentucky.

"That's right -- Will Stein and Kentucky have entered the CFP zone," Crawford said of Kentucky. "The Wildcats are 5-1 this season with consecutive 35-34 overtime wins, the latest coming against 10th-ranked LSU. It's a devastating loss for the Tigers, who drop out of the CFP mix this week and are one loss away from being out of it altogether."

Andy Staples - On3

Another well-known College Football analyst, Andy Staples of On3 also has Kentucky projected in the CFP now. He has the Wildcats #10 playing #6 Texas in the First Round. He also had comments about putting Kentucky in the 12-team projection. "Stein has immediately changed the culture at Kentucky, and the Wildcats are stacking wins in a way that suggests they can compete for a College Football Playoff berth."

Heather Denich - ESPN

The projections don't stop there, because ESPN's Heather Denich, known to be one of the top playoff projectors, has Kentucky projected to be a 12-seed, just sneaking into the 12-team field. Dinich went in-depth on Will Stein's chances to get his team in the playoff. The most important thing to know? Kentucky needs to avoid a loss prior to playing at Missouri in week 11.

"If the playoff were today, Kentucky would get bumped out of the bracket for the highest-ranked team from the Group of 6 on Selection Day," Dinich noted. "Three of the next five games are on the road, including Saturday at Oklahoma and Nov. 7 at Tennessee. If Kentucky is going to stay relevant in the CFP race, it needs to avoid a second loss before heading to Mizzou."

It sounds like a third loss is likely to keep Kentucky out of the College Football Playoff race. Can Kentucky finish 5-1 after starting that way? That's the Wildcats' best chance to get in and acheive their dream in just year one of the Stein era.

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