Kentucky basketball gains a little more support in first Top 25 rankings of the season

The first Associated Press college basketball poll of the regular season was released Monday, and Kentucky remains in the No. 4 spot in the Top 25 rankings.

The Wildcats defeated Howard 95-63 in the season opener last Monday and then beat Duquesne 77-52 to improve to 2-0 in the early going. Things will get tougher for UK before the next AP poll comes out, with a Champions Classic date against Michigan State on Tuesday in Indianapolis, then a trip to Spokane to face Gonzaga on Sunday. The Cats will also face South Carolina State in Rupp Arena on Thursday.

Gonzaga defeated Michigan State 64-63 in San Diego on Friday night, and the Zags remained at No. 2 in the AP rankings this week. North Carolina still holds the No. 1 ranking, followed by Gonzaga, Houston, Kentucky and Baylor.

Last week, Baylor and Kansas tied for the No. 5 spot. Both teams went 2-0 in the first week of the season, but the Bears edged out the Jayhawks, who are No. 6 in the latest rankings.

The top-ranked team in the preseason poll to lose a game in the opening week was Tennessee, which suffered a 78-66 defeat to Colorado in Nashville on Sunday. As a result, the Volunteers dropped from No. 11 nationally to No. 22 in the new rankings.

The Southeastern Conference has six teams in the latest poll: No. 4 Kentucky, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 13 Auburn, No. 18 Alabama, No. 22 Tennessee and No. 24 Texas A&M, which had been the first team on the also receiving votes list in the preseason.

While UK did stay put at No. 4 overall, the Cats picked up a third No. 1 vote in the new poll. UK had two No. 1 votes in the preseason. The team’s overall vote total went from 1,364 points to 1,394 points.

Kentucky’s next opponent, Michigan State, was the sixth team on the also receiving votes list — so, 31st nationally — in the preseason AP poll. Following last week’s close loss to Gonzaga and an earlier 73-55 victory over Northern Arizona, the Spartans are now the top team on the also receiving votes list, or No. 26 overall.

UK will face Michigan State at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.

This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 12:12 PM.

Ben Roberts

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Ben Roberts is the University of Kentucky men’s basketball beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He has previously specialized in UK basketball recruiting coverage and created and maintained the Next Cats blog. He is a Franklin County native and first joined the Herald-Leader in 2006. Support my work with a digital subscription