Final top 10 of regular season includes Kentucky but not Louisville

After a wild week that saw it blow a 17-point lead to Tennessee and then come from behind by 18 to win at Florida, Kentucky’s men’s basketball team dropped two spots to eighth in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The Cats head to the the SEC Tournament in Nashville with a 25-6 overall record, including a 15-3 league mark that earned them the program’s 49th regular-season SEC championship.

UK, the SEC Tournament’s top seed, will face eighth-seeded Tennessee (17-14, 9-9 SEC) or ninth-seeded Alabama (16-15, 8-10 SEC) in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. ET Friday.

Kansas remained a unanimous No. 1 in this week’s poll, followed by Gonzaga, Dayton, Florida State and Baylor.

The Jayhawks received all 65 first-place votes to remain at the top for a third straight week and fourth overall this season.

The Seminoles, coached by former Kentucky assistant Leonard Hamilton, rose three spots after wrapping up the first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in program history. That moved FSU to its highest ranking since No. 2 in December 1972.

Michigan State climbed seven spots to ninth, rejoining the top 10 for the first time since early January after going from preseason No. 1 to unranked.

No. 14 BYU, coached by former Kentucky star Mark Pope, gained one spot.

Louisville (24-7) fell five spots to 15th.

▪ In the USA Today coaches’ poll, Kentucky dropped one spot to seventh and Louisville dropped four places to 14th.

Women’s poll

Kentucky’s women’s team, which reached the semifinals of the SEC Tournament before losing to Mississippi State, remained at No. 16 in this week’s AP poll.

The Cats (22-8) are one of five SEC teams in the top 25, the others being No. 1 South Carolina, No. 9 Mississippi State, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 24 Missouri.

Coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks received 27 of 30 first-place votes from a national media panel. South Carolina (32-1) looks poised to be the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced next week.

South Carolina wouldn’t have to travel far, most likely playing the first two rounds at home before making the two-hour trip to Greenville, S.C., where the team just won the SEC championship.

Oregon received the other three first-place votes and moved up one spot to No. 2 after winning the Pac-12 Tournament.

Louisville (28-4) fell two spots to sixth after losing to Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

AP men’s top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Mar. 8, 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: Stephen F. Austin 75, Providence 66, ETSU 59, Michigan 53, Penn St. 42, Utah St. 40, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 9, Arizona 7, Liberty 6, Southern Cal 6, Richmond 5, N. Iowa 4, UCLA 4, New Mexico St. 4, Rutgers 4, Texas Tech 3, Vermont 2, LSU 2, Purdue 1, Belmont 1, Mississippi St. 1, Florida 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 Mar. 8, 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: TCU 11, Ohio St. 10, Marquette 7, Boston College 6, Florida Gulf Coast 3, Rutgers 3, Iowa St. 2, Duke 2, Central Michigan 1, Boise St. 1.

This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 12:24 PM.