Kentucky’s back in AP’s top 10 for first time since early December
Kentucky ended its six-week absence from the Associated Press’ top 10 after it moved up four spots to eighth in Monday’s poll.
The Cats (14-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) hadn’t been ranked in the AP’s top 10 since they were 7-1 and ranked ninth on Dec. 3. It is the highest UK has been ranked since starting out at No. 2 in the preseason poll.
Kentucky is coming off an 82-80 win at then-No. 14 Auburn on Saturday. This week it hosts No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 9 Kansas.
UK has rebounded in the AP poll in a big way the past two weeks. After being slotted 18th on Jan. 7, the Cats moved up six spots to 12th last week.
Tennessee (16-1, 5-0 SEC) took over the No. 1 spot after three of the top five teams lost last week.
The Vols received 48 of 64 first-place votes, well ahead of No. 2 Duke with 11. No. 3 Virginia received three first-place votes and No. 6 Michigan State had two. Gonzaga and Michigan rounded out the top five.
Tennessee rolled over Arkansas and edged Alabama in its two games last week, while Duke, Michigan and Virginia all lost.
The Blue Devils lost to Syracuse in overtime last Monday, but bounced back to knock Virginia from the unbeaten ranks with a 72-70 victory on Saturday.
Michigan lost to Wisconsin on Saturday as well, leaving the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers as the last Division I team to finish a season undefeated.
Louisville moved into the AP Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 23 following wins over Boston College and Georgia Tech.
LSU defeated then-No. 19 Mississippi and South Carolina last week to return to the poll at No. 25.
Kentucky also picked up five spots to move up to ninth in the coaches’ poll. Those rankings have Tennessee at No. 1, Mississippi State at 22nd, Kansas at 10th and Louisville at 24th.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Associated Press top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 20, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
| School | Record | Points | Previous |
1. Tennessee (48) | 16-1 | 1575 | 3 |
2. Duke (11) | 15-2 | 1520 | 1 |
3. Virginia (3) | 16-1 | 1451 | 4 |
4. Gonzaga | 18-2 | 1374 | 5 |
5. Michigan | 17-1 | 1363 | 2 |
6. Michigan St. (2) | 16-2 | 1355 | 6 |
7. Nevada | 18-1 | 1143 | 10 |
8. Kentucky | 14-3 | 1087 | 12 |
9. Kansas | 15-3 | 1060 | 7 |
10. Virginia Tech | 15-2 | 1007 | 9 |
11. North Carolina | 14-4 | 895 | 13 |
12. Marquette | 16-3 | 861 | 15 |
13. Maryland | 16-3 | 751 | 19 |
14. Texas Tech | 15-3 | 743 | 8 |
14. Buffalo | 17-1 | 743 | 16 |
16. Auburn | 13-4 | 627 | 14 |
17. Houston | 18-1 | 544 | 21 |
18. Villanova | 14-4 | 450 | 22 |
19. Iowa | 16-3 | 332 | 23 |
20. Mississippi | 14-3 | 291 | 18 |
21. N.C. State | 15-3 | 282 | 17 |
22. Mississippi St. | 14-3 | 266 | 24 |
23. Louisville | 13-5 | 230 | _ |
24. Iowa St. | 14-4 | 156 | _ |
25. LSU | 14-3 | 154 | _ |
Others receiving votes: Florida St. 139, Purdue 111, Kansas St. 91, Nebraska 66, Wisconsin 64, Oklahoma 16, Syracuse 13, Washington 11, Murray St. 9, Cincinnati 6, Wofford 5, Saint Louis 3, Florida 2, S.F. 2, Hofstra 1, TCU 1.
This story was originally published January 21, 2019 at 12:10 PM.