Kentucky falls in the AP, Coaches Polls after loss to Michigan State
As expected, Kentucky fell in the polls following last week’s 17-point loss to Michigan State. The Cats are No. 19 in the new AP Poll, down from No. 12. They are No. 18 in the latest Coaches Poll, down from No. 13.
Unfortunately, until Kentucky faces a quality opponent again, the Cats won’t move much in the polls. They’ve got two big opportunities coming next week vs. North Carolina and Gonzaga. The Cats host the Tar Heels, now No. 16 in the new AP Poll, in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 2, and play the No. 12 Bulldogs three days later in Nashville. Talk about a measuring stick week.
Purdue remains the No. 1 team in the country, followed by Arizona, which moved up from No. 4; Houston, Duke; and UConn. Louisville is No. 6. Alabama and Florida are the only SEC teams in the top ten, coming in at No. 8 and No. 10, respectively.
In all, 12 of Kentucky’s opponents are ranked, including Indiana and Vanderbilt, which cracked the Top 25 for the first time today. Here is where they all stand, in chronological order.
- No. 16 North Carolina – Dec. 2 (home)
- No. 12 Gonzaga – Dec. 5 (neutral)
- No. 25 Indiana – Dec. 13 (home)
- No. 14 St. John’s – Dec. 20 (neutral)
- No. 8 Alabama – Jan. 3 (away)
- No. 17 Tennessee – Jan. 17 (away), Feb. 7 (home)
- No. 24 Vanderbilt – Jan. 27 (away), Feb. 28 (home)
- No. 22 Arkansas – Jan. 31 (away)
- No. 10 Florida – Feb. 14 (away), March 7 (home)
- No. 21 Auburn – Feb. 21 (away)
- No. 6 Louisville – Nov. 11 (away) – 96-68 L
- No. 11 Michigan State – Nov. 18 (neutral) – 83-66 L
AP College Basketball Poll – Nov. 24
| Rank | School | Record | Trend | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue | 6-0 | – | 1509 (46) |
| 2 | Arizona | 5-0 | 2 | 1439 (11) |
| 3 | Houston | 5-0 | -1 | 1425 (4) |
| 4 | Duke | 7-0 | 1 | 1319 (0) |
| 5 | UConn | 5-1 | -2 | 1208 (0) |
| 6 | Louisville | 5-0 | – | 1201 (0) |
| 7 | Michigan | 4-0 | – | 1080 (0) |
| 8 | Alabama | 3-1 | 3 | 1070 (0) |
| 9 | BYU | 4-1 | – | 1033 (0) |
| 10 | Florida | 4-1 | – | 961 (0) |
| 11 | Michigan State | 5-0 | 6 | 879 (0) |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 5-0 | 1 | 863 (0) |
| 13 | Illinois | 5-1 | -5 | 830 (0) |
| 14 | St. John’s | 3-1 | – | 743 (0) |
| 15 | Iowa State | 4-0 | 1 | 706 (0) |
| 16 | North Carolina | 5-0 | 2 | 595 (0) |
| 17 | Tennessee | 5-0 | 3 | 495 (0) |
| 18 | UCLA | 5-1 | 1 | 488 (0) |
| 19 | Kentucky | 4-2 | -7 | 394 (0) |
| 20 | Texas Tech | 4-2 | -5 | 319 (0) |
| 21 | Auburn | 4-1 | 1 | 269 (0) |
| 22 | Arkansas | 5-1 | -1 | 260 (0) |
| 23 | NC State | 4-0 | 2 | 214 (0) |
| 24 | Vanderbilt | 5-0 | – | 111 (0) |
| 25 | Indiana | 5-0 | – | 100 (0) |
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 45, Kansas 34, Oregon 31, Georgetown 31, Saint Mary’s 27, Nebraska 27, Ohio St. 26, Missouri 20, Utah St. 16, Baylor 14, Southern Cal 10, Mississippi 10, Iowa 6, Clemson 6, Santa Clara 3, Creighton 3, Oklahoma St. 2, Virginia Tech 2, Buffalo 1.
Top 10
- 1Trending
"I'm a Kentuckian"
Stoops says KY is home
- 2Breaking
So. Many. Injuries.
for UK and UofL.
- 3New
AP Poll
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Vandy 45, UK 17
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Feast Week
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Coaches Poll – Nov. 24
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS (1st) | Chg |
| 1 | Purdue | 6-0 | 764 (23) | – |
| 2 | Houston | 5-0 | 732 (2) | – |
| 3 | Arizona | 5-0 | 713 (5) | +2 |
| 4 | Duke | 7-0 | 686 (1) | – |
| 5 | Louisville | 5-0 | 609 | +1 |
| 6 | Michigan | 4-0 | 582 | – |
| 7 | UConn | 5-1 | 568 | -4 |
| 8 | Florida | 4-1 | 501 | +1 |
| 9 | Alabama | 3-1 | 497 | +2 |
| 10 | Gonzaga | 5-0 | 479 | +2 |
| 11 | BYU | 4-1 | 470 | -1 |
| 12 | Michigan State | 5-0 | 438 | +6 |
| 13 | Iowa State | 4-0 | 403 | +1 |
| 14 | Illinois | 5-1 | 391 | -6 |
| 15 | St. John’s | 3-1 | 349 | +1 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 5-0 | 313 | +1 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 5-0 | 276 | +2 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 4-2 | 204 | -5 |
| 19 | UCLA | 5-1 | 201 | +1 |
| 20 | Texas Tech | 4-2 | 177 | -5 |
| 21 | Arkansas | 5-1 | 146 | +1 |
| 22 | North Carolina State | 4-0 | 94 | +4 |
| 23 | Vanderbilt | 5-0 | 81 | +1 |
| 24 | Indiana | 5-0 | 72 | +1 |
| 25 | Auburn | 4-1 | 64 | +2 |
Schools Dropped Out: No. 21 Wisconsin; No. 23 Kansas;
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 51; Saint Mary’s 30; Baylor 27; Oregon 23; Georgetown 23; Kansas 19; Ole Miss 15; USC 11; Missouri 11; Nebraska 9; Creighton 9; Virginia 8; Utah State 6; Ohio State 6; Iowa 6; SMU 4; Clemson 4; Saint Louis 2; Butler 1;
Kentucky in other National Rankings
Kentucky’s disappointing performance in New York has been a storyline since Tuesday night. Not surprisingly, national media members also dropped the Cats in their new rankings. The Field of 68 staff and Andy Katz took them out of their Top 25s completely.
“The Wildcats are beating the teams from the one-bid leagues, but need a quality win against a power four team for some confidence before the SEC,” Katz wrote.
Hard to argue with that. Here’s where the rest of the talking heads have the Cats this week:
- CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: No. 21 (Prev: No. 17)
- Jon Rothstein: No. 21 (Prev: No. 14)
- The Athletic’s CJ Moore: No. 22 (Prev: No. 11)
- CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone: No. 22 (Prev: No. 12)
- Field of 68: Not ranked (Prev: No. 11)
- Andy Katz: No. 32 (Prev: 13)
If you trust computers more than people, Kentucky is No. 12 in KenPom, No. 15 in BartTorvik, and No. 15 in Evan Miya. The first NET Rankings of the season come out one week from today, on Dec. 1.
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