Throughout the 2021 college football regular season Cats Illustrated publisher Justin Rowland will survey the sport's landscape from the SEC to the national scene, especially as there might include some relation to Kentucky.

Here are those reflections after Week 4 of the CFB season...

- Georgia-Vanderbilt was about as lopsided as a game gets. It was 35-0 at the end of the first quarter. This is with Stetson Bennett at quarterback. Georgia has looked like the best team in the country early this season. I wonder if Clark Lea knew the size of the job he bit off. What a difficult place to win. I've long felt that UGA would need to be clearly superior to Alabama in order for Kirby to beat Saban, but he's been very close before and the Bulldogs have probably been more impressive to start this season.

- Of course, Clemson just not being very good should prompt us to reassess the significance of that first game against UGA. The Tigers dropped a road game to NC State over the weekend. Their offense is just anemic. It's hard to fathom Clemson's offense being so bad and as many have said, it begins and ends with that offensive line. It has not remained an elite unit. Dabo is going to have to fix that to bring them back to a national championship level. Their decline this year just makes Saban's run all the more impressive. It's very easy for one position unit to ruin something.

- While we're in the ACC, how about Georgia Tech throttling North Carolina? The hype train got out of control for these Tar Heels. They lost a ton of skill talent off last year's team and only Josh Downs is on the level of the guys that left, and their offensive line has been abused in conference losses to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, two teams that may not even be regarded as very good at the end of the season. UNC's 2-2 start has been a reminder that it took Vince Young to get Mack over the hump at Texas. He's a great salesman and program-builder but there were a lot of duds and choke jobs during that long tenure at Texas.

- West Virginia made some mistakes and still had an opportunity to knock off Oklahoma in Norman. When I watch Neal Brown's team play I usually am impressed at them as a pretty well coached group that plays hard. As for Oklahoma, they started slow last year too, but have just been completely underwhelming. This does not look like a team that can contend for a national championship unless something really dramatic changes.

- Wake Forest took Virginia to the woodshed, 37-17, and the Deacons are 4-0 and now a trendy pick to make some noise in an ACC that appears much weaker at the top than most believed it would be before the season started. Keep an open mind when it comes to what the ACC championship game could look like. There are a whole bunch of programs that are in the mix with Clemson's offense sputtering to this degree.

- Notre Dame isn't exactly ACC but it's a good time to mention its blowout victory over Wisconsin. I'm of the mind that the game is going to be misleading for some. The Irish barely beat Toledo. They nearly choked away a game against Florida State that they had locked up. They just haven't looked great this season. This is one that got away from Wisconsin late after being tied well into the second half. The Badgers' offense is just atrocious but they have a really legitimate defense.

- Right now I think you have to say that the most likely playoff scenario is Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, and Penn State. Of course it's so early that could change and it probably won't pan out that way, but the Pac-12 doesn't have many true tests for the Ducks and that win in Columbus may allow them in with a loss. Penn State already has wins against Auburn and Wisconsin. Neither of those teams will prove to be elite, but those are two big wins and Ohio State is vulnerable. PSU also gets Iowa and has a tough schedule overall, but they may be able to get in at 12-1 if they win the Big Ten also.

- Kentucky is finally in the Top-25 and that feels overdue. I'm not saying it's a slam dunk that this team is ranked at the end of the season but having watched a lot of college football this year, I like their potential because Kentucky has some nice ingredients. A lot of talent, a big-armed QB who can stretch the field complemented by a strong rushing attack, and a defense that limits explosives. Plus, 2-0 in the SEC. This ranking is a no-brainer and AP voters have some explaining to do, as usual. If Clemson is only a borderline top-25 team as the rankings suggest, why would NC State be ranked for beating them at home after getting handled by Mississippi State?

- What a job Sam Pittman is doing at Arkansas. There's really nothing about his personality that screams successful head coach in the SEC but this turnaround is remarkable. The Hogs took care of Texas A&M 20-10. I've long said that Texas A&M is the most underwhelming really good program going and continue to feel that way. I rarely come away very impressed when watching them but they do win a lot. The SEC West is pretty fascinating right now. That Ole Miss and Arkansas could be the two best teams in the division outside of Alabama is tough to believe but I think you have to assume that at this point. Treylon Burks is a really fun player for the Razorbacks.

- Iowa State appears to have been overrated coming into the 2021 season. The Cyclones were a top-10 team preseason but have already lost to Iowa and now Baylor. They just haven't looked very good. This is a team that was good last year and returned a ton of pieces, but it's not the kind of talent that you see at the top SEC programs. They won't have a ton of guys from this roster in the NFL. That isn't the only measurement we should use, but perhaps when you're talking about a team that's less about overwhelming talent and more about the pieces fitting together right, we shouldn't just assume year over year success.

- BYU is 4-0 with a win against Utah and they have been one of the nicer surprises I've seen this year.

- Hat tip to Syracuse knocking off Liberty at home. The Orange is now 3-1 and that's a quality non-conference win.

- Florida rushed for 283 yards against Tennessee in a 38-14 win against the Volunteers. Emory Jones in particular but the whole cast at UF will present a serious test for Kentucky's run defense. Jones was also 21/207 for 209 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks through the air. I have been impressed with how hard Tennessee has played for coach Josh Heupel early this season.

- Vince Marrow was very close to leaving Kentucky for Michigan State because he's close with Mel Tucker, and it's a great thing for the Cats that he didn't. MSU is 4-0 after surviving Nebraska 23-20. They have wins against Northwestern, Miami, and now NU. I do think that is a little deceiving because those are pretty big names but none of those teams are very good, but it's a great turnaround for the Spartans nonetheless.

Quietly, Scott Frost has Nebraska playing a little better. Maybe it won't matter in the end, ,but they aren't just laying down and it's only fair to mention that.

- Auburn barely survived Georgia State and Bryan Harsin fired his wide receivers coach after only four games. I'm not a fan of that. Unless there's a character or legal issue going on firing someone midseason is a bad precedent and it should discourage people from going there. The coach was only making $300,000 and was probably on the bottom of the totem pole, but it's the same as Jeremy Pruitt firing Jimmy Brumbaugh during a game as he reportedly did.

- Boston College-Mizzou went about as expected with Connor Bazelak doing what Connor Bazelak does and Boston College rushing all over the Tigers. Eli Drinkwitz and Steve Wilks have a lot to do to fix that defense. It's one of the two or three worst units that Kentucky will face this season.

- My takeaway from LSU's 28-25 win against Mississippi State is that both teams are beatable if Kentucky plays well, but the Cats could definitely lose both if they're not in a good place after games versus UF and UGA.

- Texas did drop that game to Arkansas but the Longhorns bounced back with a 70-35 win against Texas Tech. I would caution not to judge Sarkisian too quickly based on that loss. If Arkansas is a top-15 caliber team and playing well, and Sark is just trying to change the culture, lets see how the Horns look at the end of the season. I think he'll have them moving in the right direction.

- Maryland is 4-0 but the Terrapins play five teams ranked in the top 17 over the next seven weeks.

- Louisville is not going to be a pushover for Kentucky. It's possible that Kentucky just bulldozes over the Cards as it has the last couple of times the teams have played, but the Cardinals have some life in them. Malik Cunningham could present a test for the defense. But I think you still have to consider Kentucky a solid favorite and I wouldn't read much into an 8-point win against this Florida State team, which lost to Jacksonville State.

- Memphis beats Mississippi State and then loses to UTSA on a last second field goal.

- After losing 28-20 to Houston, Navy is winless through three games.

- It appears that Indiana is moving back toward the place where we typically expect them to be. The Hoosiers let one get away against Cincinnati. To start the year they were destroyed by Iowa. On Saturday, IU barely survived WKU, 33-31.

- How about ULM beating Troy? That's a respectable and proud Trojan program at the G5 level, and perhaps it means Kentucky's season-opening domination of the Warhawks was a little more impressive than we gave them credit for at the time. This team was awful last year so Terry Bowden must be doing something right.

- Terry Wilson was 16/38 for 160 yards and an interception in New Mexico's 20-13 loss to UTEP.

- It's tough to believe that Oregon State beating USC in football isn't a bigger story but the Trojans are going through a coaching change and it seems like a throwaway year.

- Having watched a lot of college football this season I think there is more parity this year than most that I remember. There are still haves and have nots, but Clemson is way down, Ohio State is down a tick, Oklahoma is in a game seemingly every week, Notre Dame has been living on the edge, etc.