Kentucky takes second-biggest fall ever from No. 1. Louisville rises in AP poll.

Take early-season college basketball polls with how many grains of salt fit your taste, but a No. 1 ranking remains a status symbol no matter when it’s achieved.

The 2019-20 University of Kentucky men’s basketball team enjoyed one day as the nation’s media darling and opponents’ primary target last week before the top-ranked Wildcats were knocked off by unranked Evansville in Rupp Arena last Tuesday.

At what cost did that loss come?

Kentucky fell eight places to No. 9 in the new Associated Press poll released Monday afternoon. The climb back to the top was to resume anew Monday night when the Wildcats hosted Utah Valley.

The Wildcats were replaced atop this week’s poll by Duke, which is off to a 4-0 start. Louisville, also 4-0 after Sunday’s win over North Carolina Central, was ranked No. 2 this week. The top five also includes Michigan State, Kansas and North Carolina.

Coming in at Nos. 6 through 10 in the rankings are Maryland, Virginia, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Ohio State.

Click here to view the complete AP Top 25.

How big was Kentucky’s eight-spot fall, historically?

No team has dropped farther from No. 1 than Florida did in December of 2003. The Gators fell to No. 15 after losing to Maryland at home and at Louisville in a four-day period.

Kentucky on Monday joined UNLV in 1982-83 and North Carolina in 2016-17 for the second-biggest drop from No. 1. All three fell to No. 9.

UNLV got to No. 1 by winning the first 24 games of 1982-83. Then the Rebels lost at Cal State Fullerton and at West Virginia in a four-day period and fell to No. 9.

North Carolina fell to No. 9 after a loss at Indiana.

Duke also climbed to No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 announced Monday. Kentucky was rated No. 10 by the coaches.

Click here to view the complete USA Today Coaches’ Top 25.

Herald-Leader Staff Writer Jerry Tipton contributed to this article.

This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 12:42 PM.