Kentucky drops out of ESPN's Power Rankings after loss to North Carolina

The AP and Coaches Polls don’t come out until Monday, but the rest of the national media isn’t waiting to weigh in on Kentucky’s loss to North Carolina. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello is the latest, dropping the Cats out of his Top 25 on Thursday.

Kentucky was already on the cusp of falling out, at No. 24, but the 67-64 showing against the Tar Heels solidified it. North Carolina was outside of the Top 25 in Borzello’s previous update and rose 16 spots to No. 11. Gonzaga, tonight’s opponent in Nashville, is No. 8. Indiana, which comes to Rupp Arena next week, is not ranked. St. John’s, the Cats’ opponent in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 20, is No. 25, falling 14 spots to No. 25 after losses to Iowa State and Auburn. Rick Pitino’s squad faces Ole Miss tomorrow night.

In an accompanying video, Borzello said that if Kentucky doesn’t win one of its three remaining big non-conference games, it may be time to start worrying about making the NCAA Tournament.

“Kentucky, they’re in a bit of a tailspin,” Borzello said. “They’re up to three losses now. They face Gonzaga on Friday, and they have Indiana and St. John’s in the rest of their non-conference. They really need to pick up some non-conference wins. I know injuries have been an issue in their slow start, but if they don’t pick up at least one of those wins coming up, they’re going to go into SEC play facing an uphill battle to get an at-large bid.”

Oof. Elsewhere, Kentucky fell to No. 24 in Gary Parrish’s rankings. Jon Rothstein has the Cats at No. 27. Parrish’s CBS Sports colleague David Cobb did not hold back when describing just how bad Kentucky looks right now.

A year ago, Wildcats fans stayed patient amid some rough patches because Pope beat Duke in November and took down Gonzaga and Louisville in December. When the tough times came, there was proof of concept to fall back on, and the ugly performances usually had injury-related explanations.

In spite of a poor run of health, Kentucky still managed to defeat a record eight top-15 opponents and earn a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament. A Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee may have ended the honeymoon for some, but many UK fans saw the 2024-25 season for what it was: a promising debut campaign filled with marquee victories that showed Pope’s schematic chops and ability to galvanize a hobbled roster.

The 2025-26 season has provided him an opportunity to re-create every aspect of what made his first season so good. There have been marquee opponents to slay, injuries to navigate and complex schematic webs to untangle. So far, the Wildcats have failed in every aspect.

David Cobb, CBS Sports

Over at The Athletic, Brendan Mark’s review was equally scathing.

After Tuesday’s loss to North Carolina, Kentucky still hasn’t beaten a high-major opponent yet this season, and it might be time to recalibrate expectations for the most expensive team in the sport. Some of the Wildcats’ struggles are beyond coach Mark Pope’s control; Jaland Lowe’s lingering shoulder injury means Kentucky is playing without a natural point guard (and one of its top transfer additions), while Jayden Quaintance remains out while rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered in the spring. But even still, Kentucky hasn’t looked like a top-25 team, to say nothing of one that entered this season with Final Four ambitions.

UK is only shooting 33.6 percent from 3, can’t regularly string together defensive stops, and continues to give off bad vibes, difficult as that is to quantify. The Cats are still an NCAA Tournament team (probably), but it’s getting tougher and tougher to imagine this group doing anything substantial come March.

Brendan Marks, The Athletic

Kentucky needs a win in the worst kind of way. Hopefully, it comes tonight in Nashville.