Kentucky basketball takes a step back in AP poll after loss at Auburn

Kentucky dropped two spots — from 15th to 13th — in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, which was released on Monday afternoon.

The Cats (16-5, 6-2 SEC) split their two games last week, starting with a 71-62 victory at home against Vanderbilt on Wednesday. A 75-66 loss at then-No. 17 Auburn followed on Saturday. The Tigers moved up six spots to 11th this week.

Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas and undefeated San Diego State held down the top four spots while Louisville (19-3) edged its way into fifth.

The Bears received 49 of 65 first-place votes to stay comfortably ahead of Gonzaga and Kansas. That was up from 44 first-place votes from the previous week, with the Bears securing a third straight week atop the rankings.

Next up for Kentucky is a home game against Mississippi State at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, then a matchup against Tennessee in Knoxville at 1 p.m. EST Saturday.

▪ UK tumbled from 13th to 16th in the USA Today Sports coaches’ poll. Those rankings also have Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State and Louisville as the top five.

In sync

Kentucky’s women’s team also dropped two spots to 15th this week.

South Carolina remained at No. 1, followed by Baylor, Oregon, UConn and Louisville.

The Cats (17-4) played both of last week’s games without injured star Rhyne Howard. They won at Missouri 62-47 on Thursday before losing 70-62 at home to Florida on Sunday.

UK’s next game is against Alabama at 7 p.m. ET Thursday.

AP men’s top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 2, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

Others receiving votes: Texas Tech 66, Marquette 31, Ohio St. 19, Tulsa 19, Rhode Island 18, N. Iowa 17, Wichita St. 17, BYU 14, Rutgers 12, Stanford 7, Stephen F. Austin 3, Bowling Green 1, Michigan 1, Virginia 1, Winthrop 1, Yale 1.

AP women’s top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 2, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

Others receiving votes: Princeton 48, TCU 25, LSU 13, Florida Gulf Coast 11, Stony Brook 2.

This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 12:13 PM.