Kentucky clings to AP Top 25 ranking, but some of its rivals get more credit
Media members have proved less forgiving of Kentucky’s failures this season than some other men’s college basketball teams, but the Week 14 edition of the AP Top 25 Poll showed the Cats some respect for playing in what has become an extremely difficult Southeastern Conference.
Kentucky (17-6), ranked No. 21 last week after its first drop out of the poll since 2014, fell to No. 24 this week following a road loss to Missouri on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Duke (19-4), which has lost two of its last three, including a stunner to a sub-.500 St. Johns (11-13) team on Saturday, retained its hold on the top 10, dropping from No. 4 to No. 9. And Kansas (18-5), which has lost two of its last four games, including a home loss Saturday to Oklahoma State, dropped only three spots from No. 7 to No. 10.
Then there’s the mystery of North Carolina (17-7), which has lost three out of its last four and has a home defeat to Wofford this season. Its ranking slipped a mere two spots from No. 19 last week to No. 21 after a road loss to Clemson and a blowout home win over Pitt.
Kentucky has been ranked as high as No. 5 in the preseason, but has seen its AP Poll stock steadily decline after losses to Kansas and UCLA in the early going. The Cats are rated No. 16 in the daily RPI rankings on ESPN.com.
Villanova ranked No. 1 in Monday’s poll, followed by second-ranked Virginia and third-ranked Purdue. It marked the fourth straight week with that trio sitting 1-2-3 in the poll as they continue extended winning streaks.
Michigan State climbed a spot to No. 4, followed by No. 5 Xavier.
Sixth-ranked Cincinnati moved to its highest ranking since January 2004, followed by No. 7 Texas Tech reaching its highest ranking since March 1996. And eighth-ranked Auburn has its highest ranking since January 2000.
Jared Peck: 859-231-1333, @JPSaysHere
The AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 4, 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 (48) | 22-1 | 1,608 | 1 |
2. Virginia (16) | 22-1 | 1,572 | 2 |
3. Purdue (1) | 23-2 | 1,500 | 3 |
4. Michigan St. | 22-3 | 1,407 | 5 |
5. Xavier | 21-3 | 1,350 | 6 |
6. Cincinnati | 21-2 | 1,305 | 8 |
7. Texas Tech | 19-4 | 1,182 | 10 |
8. Auburn | 21-2 | 1,138 | 11 |
9. Duke | 19-4 | 1,075 | 4 |
10. Kansas | 18-5 | 1,015 | 7 |
11. Saint Mary’s (Calif.) | 23-2 | 895 | 13 |
12. Gonzaga | 21-4 | 851 | 14 |
13. Arizona | 19-5 | 816 | 9 |
14. Ohio St. | 20-5 | 747 | 17 |
15. Tennessee | 17-5 | 739 | 18 |
16. Clemson | 19-4 | 720 | 20 |
17. Oklahoma | 16-6 | 636 | 12 |
18. Rhode Island | 19-3 | 486 | 22 |
19. West Virginia | 17-6 | 457 | 15 |
20. Michigan | 19-6 | 331 | 24 |
21. North Carolina | 17-7 | 304 | 19 |
22. Wichita St. | 17-5 | 295 | 16 |
23. Nevada | 20-4 | 205 | — |
24. Kentucky | 17-6 | 133 | 21 |
25. Miami | 17-5 | 76 | — |
Others receiving votes: Butler 65, Washington 54, Florida St. 27, New Mexico St. 23, Seton Hall 20, Creighton 18, Arizona St. 17, Texas 15, North Carolina St. 12, Alabama 8, Middle Tennessee 6, Nebraska 4, Florida 3, Houston 3, TCU 3, Oklahoma St. 2, ETSU 1, Vermont 1.
This story was originally published February 5, 2018 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Kentucky clings to AP Top 25 ranking, but some of its rivals get more credit."