Kentucky has a new place in the college basketball rankings. And there’s a new No. 1, too.
A loss to an unranked team. A win over a top-15 opponent. Both games coming on the road in the SEC, which is sure to be a difficult place to play basketball this season.
Kentucky entered last week ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and gave voters plenty to think about by the end of it. How did it all get sorted out after the AP ballots got turned in?
The Wildcats (13-3, 2-1 SEC) ended up dropping two spots to eighth in the new college basketball rankings, which were released Monday afternoon, less than 48 hours after UK’s impressive 95-90 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville, a win on the SEC road against a team ranked No. 14 at the time.
Kentucky’s other game last week was an 82-69 loss at Georgia, a less-than-inspiring performance against a Bulldogs team picked to finish 12th in the SEC preseason poll. But, on paper, that one won’t look so bad, especially after Georgia backed it up with a home win over then-No. 17 Oklahoma on Saturday. The Dawgs (14-2, 2-1 SEC) are currently projected as an NCAA Tournament team.
But there’s a lot of basketball yet to be played for everyone in this rough-and-tumble league.
The SEC is home to both the new and former No. 1 team in the country.
Auburn took over the top spot in Monday’s poll, supplanting Tennessee, which held the position for the previous five weeks before suffering its first loss of the season — a 73-43 shellacking at Florida, a team UK beat in the league opener — and almost losing again over the weekend.
In fact, both teams had Saturday scares.
Auburn needed some good fortune at the end to hold on for a 66-63 road win over South Carolina, which is regarded as the worst team in the SEC, a relative term this season. The Tigers also lost star forward Johni Broome — the front-runner for national player of the year honors — to an ankle injury. The school announced Sunday that he suffered a sprained ankle and further tests show he will not need surgery, but CBS reported that Broome will miss at least the next two games.
Tennessee squeaked out a 74-70 win at Texas on Saturday, which started the season ranked No. 19 and is now off to an 0-3 start in the conference. Among the others at 0-3 in the league: Oklahoma, which started conference play undefeated at No. 12 in the country; and John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks, who were No. 16 in the preseason AP rankings and have since descended into NCAA Tournament bubble territory. The Hogs did not receive any votes in Monday’s poll for the first time this season.
The top of the AP Top 25 rankings is still peppered with SEC teams.
Following No. 1 Auburn, the new poll looks like this: No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Marquette, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Kansas and No. 10 Houston.
In addition to the five SEC teams in the top 10, the league has four others in the rankings: No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 23 Georgia.
Georgia is ranked following its big week that included home wins over UK and Oklahoma, which dropped from No. 17 in last week’s poll to 27th in this week’s voting. Up next for the Dawgs: at Tennessee on Wednesday, then Auburn on Saturday. That’s how it’s going to go in the SEC this season, and Kentucky has a difficult week ahead, too.
The Wildcats get two home games, but both will come against dangerous opponents. UK will host No. 11 Texas A&M on Tuesday (7 p.m. on ESPN2) and No. 4 Alabama on Saturday (noon on ESPN), both games in Rupp Arena, where the Cats have a 10-0 record in their first season under head coach Mark Pope but have faced just one ranked opponent so far.
In addition to that win over now-No. 5 Florida, the Wildcats have three more victories against teams currently ranked in the Top 25 — No 3 Duke in Atlanta, No. 16 Gonzaga in Seattle and No. 15 Mississippi State in Starkville — and they’ve built one of the more impressive NCAA Tournament résumés in the country so far.
The Cats also have a home win over Louisville, which moved up to 30th in this week’s voting after 5-1 start to the ACC season. Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals have won six consecutive games since their 93-85 loss to UK in Rupp Arena on Dec. 14, and they’ll be favorites to defeat Syracuse and Virginia this week.
With Alabama and Texas A&M coming to Rupp next, the week will bring yet another opportunity for Kentucky to add to its postseason profile.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 1:11 PM.
