Kentucky moves up one spot to No. 5 in latest Coaches Poll

How do you judge a week featuring one true road loss at Clemson followed by a top-10 neutral site win over Gonzaga? Favorably, apparently. Kentucky is now No. 5 overall in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll — a one-spot jump from last week despite losing undefeated status.

That’s once again good for third in the SEC behind only Tennessee (No. 1) and Auburn (No. 2). Elsewhere, Iowa State (No. 3), Marquette (No. 4), Duke (No. 6), Florida (No. 7), Alabama (No. 8), Gonzaga (No. 9) and Kansas (No. 10) round out the top 10. Ole Miss (No. 15), Oklahoma (No. 17) and Texas A&M (No. 18) make up the other SEC programs in the top 25 with Mississippi State, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and LSU also receiving votes — 14 of 16 teams in the league included in those two categories.

That’s two top-10 wins away from Rupp Arena, for those keeping track at home, plus future opportunities against seven ranked teams and nine overall with the home-and-homes vs. Tennessee and Auburn — the top two teams in the country as of today.

Take a look at the complete top 25:

Rank	Team	Record	PTS	1st	Prev	Chg	Hi/Lo
1	Tennessee	8-0	745	25	3	+2	1/12
2	Auburn	8-1	709	5	2	–	2/11
3	Iowa State	7-1	673	0	5	+2	3/7
4	Marquette	9-1	633	0	4	–	4/17
5	Kentucky	8-1	630	0	6	+1	5/23
6	Duke	7-2	613	0	9	+3	5/10
7	Florida	9-0	530	0	13	+6	7/21
8	Alabama	7-2	525	0	12	+4	2/12
9	Gonzaga	7-2	462	0	8	-1	4/9
10	Kansas	7-2	449	0	1	-9	1/10
11	Purdue	8-2	424	0	7	-4	6/13
12	Oregon	9-1	377	0	10	-2	10/NR
13	Houston	5-3	304	0	18	+5	4/18
14	Michigan	8-1	258	0	23	+9	14/23
15	Ole Miss	8-1	249	0	20	+5	15/NR
16	Clemson	9-1	237	0	NR	+29	16/NR
17	Oklahoma	9-0	233	0	21	+4	17/21
18	Texas A&M	8-2	194	0	24	+6	15/24
19	Michigan State	8-2	166	0	25	+6	19/NR
20	UConn	7-3	152	0	NR	+6	2/NR
21	UCLA	8-1	137	0	NR	+13	21/NR
22	Wisconsin	8-2	129	0	11	-11	11/NR
23	Cincinnati	7-1	124	0	14	-9	14/23
24	San Diego State	6-2	105	0	NR	+3	24/NR
25	Baylor	5-3	99	0	16	-9	8/25

Schools Dropped Out

No. 15 Memphis; No. 17 Illinois; No. 19 Pittsburgh; No. 22 North Carolina;

Others Receiving Votes

Mississippi State 93; Illinois 67; St. John’s 51; Pittsburgh 50; Arizona State 44; Memphis 37; Maryland 36; Drake 35; Utah State 32; Saint Mary’s 28; Penn State 26; Creighton 20; Georgia 18; Missouri 14; West Virginia 11; Arkansas 10; UC Irvine 5; Texas 5; Dayton 4; Texas Tech 2; North Carolina 2; Loyola Chicago 2; LSU 1

AP College Basketball Poll – Dec. 9

1. Tennessee – 1544 (58)
2. Auburn – 1438 (3)
3. Iowa State – 1424 (1)
4. Duke – 1295
5. Kentucky – 1284
6. Marquette – 1274
7. Alabama – 1126
8. Gonzaga – 1082
9. Florida – 1030
10. Kansas – 940
11. Purdue – 840
12. Oregon – 784
13. Oklahoma – 567
14. Michigan – 522
15. Houston – 514
16. Clemson – 491
17. Texas A&M – 415
18. UConn – 394
19. Ole Miss – 379
20. Wisconsin – 307
21. Michigan State – 292
22. Cincinnati – 288
23. San Diego State – 276
24. UCLA – 229
25. Mississippi State – 179

Others Receiving Votes: Baylor 150, Arizona St 143, Memphis 123, Missouri 119, Penn St. 90, Arkansas 89, Drake 67, Pittsburgh 62, Utah St. 57, Illinois 47, St. John’s 43, Maryland 39, Dayton 38, Creighton 32, Indiana 30, West Virginia 30, North Carolina 24, Georgia 21, Saint Mary’s 20, Texas 8, Rhode Island 3, Loyola Chicago 1.

Kentucky in other National Rankings

• Seth Davis: No. 2
• CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone: No. 4
• CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: No. 5
• Andy Katz: No. 5
• John Fanta: No. 5
• Jon Rothstein: No. 5
• Jeff Goodman: No. 5
• The Athletic: No. 6
• ESPN: No. 8