Kentucky no longer receiving votes in the AP, Coaches Polls

Last week, only two AP voters voted for Kentucky. This week, the Cats didn’t receive any votes in the AP or Coaches Polls, the first time that’s happened since Feb. 13, 2023. Clearly, the win over Mississippi State did not make up for the disappointing showing against Missouri.

Arizona is the top team in the land in both polls, taking over the top spot in the Coaches Poll after Michigan’s loss to Wisconsin. Iowa State, UConn, Michigan, and Purdue round out the top five in the AP Poll. Undefeated Vanderbilt is now a top-10 team, climbing one spot to No. 10 in the AP Poll. Arkansas is the next highest-ranked team from the SEC, at No. 17, followed by Alabama (No. 18), Florida (No. 19), Georgia (No. 21), and Tennessee (No. 24). The Vols fell four spots after their 24-point loss at Florida. The Cats travel to Rocky Top on Saturday.

Jon Rothstein has Kentucky No. 39 in his Power 45 rankings, while Andy Katz dropped the Cats out of his Power 37 Rankings. Previously, Kentucky was No. 29. The Cats are No. 35 in the NET rankings, No. 26 in KenPom, and No. 37 in BartTorvik.

The Cats will have to work their way back into the polls. They’ve got two good opportunities this week with Quad 1 games at LSU and Tennessee.

AP Poll – Jan. 12

Rank	Team	Record / Conference	Trend	Points
1	Arizona	16–0 Big 12	—	1524 (60)
2	Iowa State	16–0 Big 12	▲1	1448 (1)
3	UConn	16–1 Big East	▲1	1358 (0)
4	Michigan	14–1 Big Ten	▼2	1300 (0)
5	Purdue	15–1 Big Ten	—	1253 (0)
6	Duke	15–1 ACC	—	1237 (0)
7	Houston	15–1 Big 12	—	1130 (0)
8	Nebraska	16–0 Big Ten	▲2	1056 (0)
9	Gonzaga	17–1 WCC	▼1	1050 (0)
10	Vanderbilt	16–0 SEC	▲1	1035 (0)
11	BYU	15–1 Big 12	▼2	1013 (0)
12	Michigan State	14–2 Big Ten	—	865 (0)
13	Illinois	13–3 Big Ten	▲3	778 (0)
14	North Carolina	14–2 ACC	▲3	659 (0)
15	Texas Tech	12–4 Big 12	▼1	609 (0)
16	Virginia	14–2 ACC	▲7	515 (0)
17	Arkansas	12–4 SEC	▼2	492 (0)
18	Alabama	11–5 SEC	▼5	470 (0)
19	Florida	11–5 SEC	—	349 (0)
20	Louisville	12–4 ACC	—	336 (0)
21	Georgia	14–2 SEC	▼3	227 (0)
22	Clemson	14–3 ACC	—	218 (0)
23	Utah State	14–1 MWC	—	161 (0)
24	Tennessee	11–5 SEC	▼3	140 (0)
25	Seton Hall	14–2 Big East	—	136 (0)

Others Receiving Votes: Saint Louis 92, Kansas 60, Iowa 58, Miami (Ohio) 49, Villanova 40, Wisconsin 37, Miami 30, Texas A&M 23, UCF 18, Saint Mary’s 17, SMU 15, Auburn 14, George Mason 8, NC State 3, Southern Cal 1, St. John’s 1

Coaches Poll – Jan. 12

Rank	Team	Record	PTS	Chg
1	Arizona	16-0	773 (29)	+1
2	Iowa State	16-0	729 (1)	+1
3	Michigan	14-1	671 (1)	-2
4	UConn	16-1	666	–
5	Purdue	15-1	634	–
6	Duke	15-1	606	–
7	Houston	15-1	579	–
8	Vanderbilt	16-0	557	+2
9	Gonzaga	17-1	547	-1
10	Nebraska	16-0	534	+1
11	BYU	15-1	510	-2
12	Michigan State	14-2	433	+1
13	Illinois	13-3	378	+3
14	Texas Tech	12-4	336	–
15	North Carolina	14-2	322	+2
16	Virginia	14-2	272	+7
17	Arkansas	12-4	237	-2
18	Alabama	11-5	230	-6
19	Louisville	12-4	198	-1
20	Florida	11-5	145	+9
21	Clemson	14-3	122	+7
22	Georgia	14-2	105	-2
23	Iowa	12-4	88	-4
24	Utah State	14-1	78	+3
25	Kansas	11-5	57	-4

Schools Dropped Out: No. 22 Tennessee; No. 24 Villanova; No. 25 SMU

Others Receiving Votes: Tennessee 45; Saint Louis 39; Villanova 34; Saint Mary’s 34; Seton Hall 29; St. John’s 21; SMU 15; Miami (FL) 14; Texas A&M 13; Miami (OH) 8; UCF 6; Wisconsin 5; Ohio State 3; USC 1; Indiana 1