Latest AP Top 25 poll gives Kentucky some grudging respect
After a week of searching for respect, Kentucky got a small measure of it on Monday, moving up one spot to No. 7 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll.
“Kids on this team are not getting the kind of respect nationally they deserve,” Calipari said after Saturday’s win over Virginia Tech, UK’s seventh straight victory. “And that’s OK.”
The Cats, ranked No. 5 preseason, dropped as low as No. 8 in subsequent weeks after a neutral court loss to Kansas in early November. The Cats hovered between Nos. 7 and 8 as lower ranked teams jumped over them in the weekly survey and other contenders fell away.
This week, Wichita State dropped from No. 3 to No. 11 after a homecourt loss to previously unranked Oklahoma. The Sooners were rewarded this week with a No. 17 ranking.
Villanova was No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving 45 of 65 first-place votes from a media panel. Michigan State stayed at No. 2 and received 15 first-place votes, with Arizona State getting the final five first-place votes to match its highest ranking as a program.
Florida, which rose to as high as No. 5 earlier in the season, dropped out of the poll after losing to Clemson last week.
Kentucky has two more chances to impress the voters ahead of Southeastern Conference tournament play with games against UCLA in New Orleans on Saturday and its annual tilt with Louisville in Rupp Arena on Dec. 29.
“I think we deserve more credit than we’re getting,” Wenyen Gabriel said Saturday. “So we’re going to go out there and try to earn it.”
The AP Top Twenty Five
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 17, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
Record | Pts | Pvs | |
1. Villanova (45) | 11-0 | 1,602 | 1 |
2. Michigan St. (15) | 10-1 | 1,560 | 2 |
3. Arizona St (5) | 10-0 | 1,429 | 5 |
4. Duke | 11-1 | 1,390 | 4 |
5. North Carolina | 10-1 | 1,332 | 7 |
6. Miami | 9-0 | 1,308 | 6 |
7. Kentucky | 9-1 | 1,231 | 8 |
8. Texas A&M | 9-1 | 1,156 | 9 |
9. Xavier | 10-1 | 1,073 | 10 |
10. West Virginia | 9-1 | 1,040 | 11 |
11. Wichita St. | 8-2 | 851 | 3 |
12. Gonzaga | 9-2 | 831 | 12 |
13. Virginia | 9-1 | 796 | 16 |
14. Kansas | 8-2 | 791 | 13 |
15. TCU | 10-0 | 789 | 14 |
16. Purdue | 11-2 | 706 | 17 |
17. Oklahoma | 8-1 | 691 | - |
18. Arizona | 8-3 | 396 | 23 |
18. Baylor | 9-2 | 396 | 21 |
20. Cincinnati | 9-2 | 314 | 25 |
21. Tennessee | 7-2 | 308 | 20 |
21. Texas Tech | 9-1 | 308 | 24 |
23. Seton Hall | 9-2 | 223 | 15 |
24. Florida St. | 9-1 | 164 | 19 |
25. Creighton | 8-2 | 144 | - |
Others receiving votes: Arkansas 83, Notre Dame 73, Clemson 35, Louisville 28, Texas 21, Nevada 13, Minnesota 9, Oklahoma St. 9, Alabama 5, SMU 5, Auburn 4, Virginia Tech 3, Rhode Island 2, Syracuse 2, Florida 2, Michigan 1, Towson 1.
This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Latest AP Top 25 poll gives Kentucky some grudging respect."