Kentucky falls out of Top 10 of AP, Coaches Polls after loss to Louisville
Kentucky’s loss to Louisville cost the Cats their top-ten ranking. The Cats are No. 12 in the latest AP Poll, down from No. 9. They fell five spots to No. 13 in the Coaches Poll.
Kentucky got back on track Friday with a 46-point win over Eastern Illinois, but the true test of where this team stands right now will come tomorrow night vs. Michigan State. The Spartans are No. 17 in the new AP Poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Poll. They only played once last week, a 79-60 win over San Jose State, their first game after the big win over Arkansas. We’re still waiting to hear whether or not Jaland Lowe will undergo surgery on his shoulder, but his status for tomorrow night’s game is doubtful.
Purdue is the No. 1 team in both polls, overtaking Houston for the top spot in the AP Top 25. The Cougars are down to No. 2 after barely beating Auburn last night in Birmingham, while Purdue won convincingly at Alabama on Thursday. UConn is No. 3, Arizona No. 4, Duke No. 5, and Louisville No. 6. That’s a six-spot jump for the Cards. Ugh.
In all, ten of Kentucky’s opponents are ranked:
- No. 6 Louisville – Nov. 11 (away) – 96-68 L
- No. 10 Florida – Feb. 14 (away), March 7 (home)
- No. 11 Alabama – Jan. 3 (away)
- No. 13 Gonzaga – Dec. 5 (neutral)
- No. 14 St. John’s – Dec. 20 (neutral)
- No. 17 Michigan State – Nov. 18 (neutral)
- No. 18 North Carolina – Dec. 2 (home)
- No. 20 Tennessee – Jan. 17 (away), Feb. 7 (home)
- No. 21 Arkansas – Jan. 31 (away)
- No. 22 Auburn – Feb. 21 (away)
AP College Basketball Poll – Nov. 17
| Rank | School | Record | Trend | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue | 4-0 | +1 | 1502 (44) |
| 2 | Houston | 4-0 | -1 | 1457 (12) |
| 3 | UConn | 4-0 | – | 1389 (2) |
| 4 | Arizona | 4-0 | +1 | 1314 (2) |
| 5 | Duke | 4-0 | -1 | 1277 (1) |
| 6 | Louisville | 4-0 | +6 | 1161 (0) |
| 7 | Michigan | 3-0 | -1 | 1103 (0) |
| 8 | Illinois | 4-0 | +6 | 1017 (0) |
| 9 | BYU | 3-1 | -2 | 972 (0) |
| 10 | Florida | 3-1 | – | 949 (0) |
| 11 | Alabama | 2-1 | -3 | 928 (0) |
| 12 | Kentucky | 3-1 | -3 | 798 (0) |
| 13 | Gonzaga | 4-0 | +6 | 772 (0) |
| 14 | St. John’s | 2-1 | -1 | 732 (0) |
| 15 | Texas Tech | 3-1 | -4 | 678 (0) |
| 16 | Iowa State | 3-0 | – | 664 (0) |
| 17 | Michigan State | 3-0 | – | 585 (0) |
| 18 | North Carolina | 4-0 | – | 516 (0) |
| 19 | UCLA | 3-1 | -4 | 423 (0) |
| 20 | Tennessee | 3-0 | – | 416 (0) |
| 21 | Arkansas | 3-1 | – | 247 (0) |
| 22 | Auburn | 3-1 | – | 188 (0) |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 3-0 | +1 | 180 (0) |
| 24 | Kansas | 3-1 | +1 | 132 (0) |
| 25 | NC State | 3-0 | – | 97 (0) |
Others Receiving Votes: San Diego St. 71, Indiana 65, Vanderbilt 57, Oregon 28, Ohio St. 21, Southern Cal 16, Georgetown 16, Creighton 12, Baylor 11, Saint Mary’s 8, Missouri 7, Mississippi 5, Iowa 3, Utah St. 2, Georgia 2, Virginia 1, Virginia Tech 1, Stanford 1, Kansas St 1.
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USA Today Coaches Poll – Nov. 17
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS (1st) | Change |
| 1 | Purdue | 4-0 | 760 (20) | – |
| 2 | Houston | 4-0 | 747 (9) | – |
| 3 | UConn | 4-0 | 705 | – |
| 4 | Duke | 4-0 | 677 (2) | – |
| 5 | Arizona | 4-0 | 625 | +1 |
| 6 | Michigan | 3-0 | 568 | -1 |
| 6 | Louisville | 4-0 | 568 | +6 |
| 8 | Illinois | 4-0 | 504 | +6 |
| 9 | Florida | 3-1 | 494 | +1 |
| 10 | BYU | 3-1 | 440 | -3 |
| 11 | Alabama | 2-1 | 404 | -2 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 4-0 | 402 | +7 |
| 13 | Kentucky | 3-1 | 391 | -5 |
| 14 | Iowa State | 3-0 | 368 | +2 |
| 15 | Texas Tech | 3-1 | 353 | -4 |
| 16 | St. John’s | 2-1 | 349 | -3 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 3-0 | 304 | +1 |
| 18 | Michigan State | 3-0 | 303 | -1 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 4-0 | 233 | +1 |
| 20 | UCLA | 3-1 | 173 | -5 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 3-0 | 139 | +1 |
| 22 | Arkansas | 3-1 | 115 | -1 |
| 23 | Kansas | 3-1 | 86 | +1 |
| 24 | Vanderbilt | 4-0 | 64 | +2 |
| 25 | Indiana | 4-0 | 48 | +4 |
Schools Dropped Out: No. 23 Creighton; No. 25 Auburn
Others Receiving Votes: North Carolina State 42; Auburn 37; Saint Mary’s 27; Ole Miss 22; USC 20; San Diego State 20; Oregon 19; Baylor 16; Creighton 15; Virginia 14; Missouri 7; Georgetown 6; Iowa 5; Ohio State 4; Saint Louis 1
Kentucky in other National Rankings
Several national media members also dropped the Cats outside of the top ten in their rankings. Here’s a roundup of the big ones:
- Field of 68: No. 11 (Prev: No. 9)
- The Athletic’s CJ Moore: No. 11 (Prev: No. 3)
- On3’s Jamie Shaw: No. 12 (Prev: No. 7)
- Andy Katz: No. 13 (Prev: No. 8)
- Jon Rothstein: No. 14
- CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone: No. 15 (Prev: No. 9)
- CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: No. 17
Moore included some thoughts on Kentucky after the Louisville loss. The Cats dropped from No. 3 to No. 11 in his rankings, while the Cats rose from No. 13 to No. 5. Moore highlighted the issues Kentucky had defensively last Tuesday night, notably communication and urgency. Thankfully, both of those are fixable.
With [Jaland] Lowe now out for what could be a significant amount of time with his shoulder injury, it’s even more important than Kentucky becomes a championship-level defensive team. And for that to happen, it needs to embrace playing with a focus and intensity that wasn’t there against the Cardinals. Sometimes it takes getting your butt kicked to get the message across. Something to watch going forward, starting Tuesday against Michigan State at the Champions Classic.
CJ Moore, The Athletic
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