Kentucky is starting the new year with a top-10 ranking. That hasn’t happened in a while.
There wasn’t a major change in Kentucky’s ranking with the release of the latest Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll Monday afternoon, but the Wildcats’ national standing heading into 2024 is certainly something new.
For the first time in seven years, UK is ranked in the top 10 in the first poll of the new year.
The Cats moved up two spots to No. 6 nationally after a light week for college basketball. Previously ranked No. 4 Arizona was upset by Stanford, and Florida Atlantic, the No. 7 team in last week’s poll, suffered an upset loss to Florida Gulf Coast over the weekend, facilitating the Cats’ slight move up the rankings.
Kentucky’s only game last week was a 96-70 victory over Illinois State on Friday night in Rupp Arena, the team’s final game before SEC play begins Saturday with a trip to Florida.
The victory ensured that UK would remain in the top 10. The last time the Wildcats were ranked in that range heading into the new year was 2017, when Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk were the team’s stars. That 2016-17 squad was also ranked No. 6 in the first poll of the new year and ultimately finished the season at No. 5 before losing to North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
The current Wildcats obviously hope to advance further in the NCAA Tournament — UK hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2015 — and their ranking at this stage in the season is more in line with John Calipari’s top teams during his Kentucky tenure. The only other UK teams that have been ranked higher than this one in the first poll of the new year were the 38-1 team of 2014-15, the eventual national champions of the 2011-12 season, and the John Wall/DeMarcus Cousins group from 2009-10 — widely regarded as Calipari’s three best teams in his 15 seasons with the Wildcats.
This is also the first time since the 2009-10 season — Calipari’s first at Kentucky — that the Cats have been ranked higher in the first poll of the new year than they were in the preseason AP poll. This team was ranked No. 16 at the beginning of the season.
Purdue remains the No. 1 team in college basketball, according to the AP voters, who gave the Boilermakers 49 of 63 first-place votes in Monday’s poll. They were followed by Kansas at No. 2, Houston at No. 3, UConn at No. 4 and Tennessee at No. 5. After sixth-ranked Kentucky came No. 7 Marquette, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 9 Illinois and No. 10 Arizona.
UK’s only remaining non-conference opponent, Gonzaga, is No. 24 in this week’s poll. The Cats will host the Zags on Feb. 10 in Rupp Arena.
Four SEC teams are in the Top 25 with league play beginning this weekend. Undefeated Ole Miss (No. 22) and Auburn (No. 25) joined Tennessee and Kentucky in the latest rankings, with Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Alabama among those also receiving votes.
The Rebels will play at Tennessee in perhaps the most interesting matchup of the SEC’s seven-game opening slate Saturday. Ole Miss is one of only three undefeated teams — No. 3 Houston and No. 19 James Madison are the others — remaining in Division I.
UK’s next game
No. 6 Kentucky at Florida
When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 10-2 (0-0 SEC), Florida 10-3 (0-0)
Series: Kentucky leads 109-41
Last meeting: Kentucky won 82-74 on Feb. 22, 2023, in Gainesville
This story was originally published January 1, 2024 at 1:09 PM.
