Where unbeaten Kentucky women’s basketball team stands in latest AP poll, new NET rankings
The Kentucky Wildcats’ efforts continue to be recognized at the national level.
After Feast Week’s consecutive power conference victories, a 77-61 win over Arizona State (4-3) and a 76-53 romp past then-No. 19 Illinois (6-1) in Nashville, the Wildcats (7-0) remained at No. 14 in this week’s Associated Press top 25 women’s basketball rankings.
Following its loss to Kentucky, Illinois dropped two spots to No. 21. The Wildcats’ other ranked victory this season, Louisville (5-2), improved two spots to No. 22 after a 79-71 win over Colorado.
The Southeastern Conference is well-represented in the Week 5 rankings — South Carolina (7-1) rose one spot to No. 3, while Texas (7-0) and LSU (9-0) elevated to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Oklahoma (6-1) dropped three spots to No. 11 after a 109-99 overtime loss to Duke. No. 18 Ole Miss (5-2) saw no movement, but Alabama (8-0) jumped four spots to No. 19 with wins over Alabama State and Clemson.
The biggest change in this week’s poll came in the form of now-No. 10 Notre Dame’s seven-spot slide after consecutive losses against then-No. 17 TCU and Utah in the Cayman Islands Classic. No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Connecticut maintain their spots at the top of the rankings.
North Carolina, Kentucky’s sole opponent this week, also maintained its previous ranking and remains at No. 16 following dominant back-to-back victories over Indiana (69-39) in the Bahamas and North Carolina Central (119-43) in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels’ lone loss this season was a 69-58 defeat at the hands of then-No. 2 Connecticut on a neutral floor on Nov. 15.
NET rankings are out
Over in the first iteration of this season’s NCAA NET rankings — which ranks all 362 Division I teams with daily updates and will be used by the Selection Committee come March to determine NCAA Tournament teams and their individual seeding — the Wildcats debuted at No. 20.
UK is one of nine teams in the Southeastern Conference to appear in the NET’s top 25, alongside No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 8 LSU, No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 23 Alabama. Tennessee opens this season’s NET rankings at No. 32, Auburn at No. 43, Missouri at No. 71, Texas A&M at No. 83, Florida at No. 85, Georgia at No. 156 and Arkansas at No. 177.
The remaining members of the NET top 10 are No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Connecticut, No. 5 TCU, No. 6 Michigan State, No. 9 Duke and No. 10 West Virginia.
The Big Ten has the second-most teams in the NET’s top 25 with six — UCLA, Michigan State, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 14 Southern California, No. 15 Maryland and No. 17 Michigan. The Atlantic Coast Conference boasts five — Duke, No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 21 North Carolina, No. 24 Georgia Tech and No. 25 California.
Next game
No. 14 Kentucky at No. 16 North Carolina
What: ACC/SEC Challenge
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: UK 7-0, North Carolina 6-1
Series: North Carolina leads 3-1
Last meeting: UK won 85-75 in the Paradise Jam tournament championship in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on Nov. 24, 2018
