Here’s where Kentucky stands in the national rankings ahead of the holiday break
For the third straight week of the Associated Press women’s college basketball top 25, Kentucky finds itself in the same spot.
The Wildcats (10-1) played just one game last week, a hard-fought comeback win over Belmont (5-6) in Lexington that Kenny Brooks and Georgia Amoore believe will prove informative as Southeastern Conference play inches closer. Nevertheless, UK remains at No. 16 as the holiday break begins.
Now boasting eight teams in the top 25 — up one from last week’s seven — the SEC leads the way in conference representation. The Big Ten has seven representatives, while the Atlantic Coast Conference has six. The Big 12 has three teams within the Week 8 rankings, and the Big East has one.
South Carolina (11-1) stayed put at No. 2, while Texas (12-1) moved up one to No. 5 and undefeated LSU (14-0) moved down to No. 6. Oklahoma improved one spot to No. 9.
Tennessee (11-0) improved three spots to No. 15 after a trio of out-of-town wins over Memphis, Richmond and Tulsa in quick succession, while Alabama (12-1) remained at No. 20 and Ole Miss (8-3) stuck at No. 25. Vanderbilt also received top 25 votes this week.
Though it may be outnumbered in the rankings as a whole, the Big Ten — thanks to No. 1 UCLA (12-0), No. 4 Southern California (11-1), No. 8 Maryland (11-0) and No. 10 Ohio State (12-0) — matched the SEC in top-10 teams. No. 3 Notre Dame (10-2) and No. 7 Connecticut serve as the lone top-10 representatives from their conferences.
Once again, the top 10 underwent a big-time shakeup in the wake of entertaining showdowns. Southern California beat Connecticut 72-70 in Storrs to jump three spots, pushing the Huskies down three spots to No. 7. Previous top-10 entry Duke (10-3) fell a week-worst five spots to No. 14 after losing 65-56 at unranked South Florida.
NET rankings update
Following its gritty win against Belmont on Friday — currently classified as a quadrant-two victory — the Wildcats improved to No. 31 in the NCAA NET rankings.
As the rankings currently stand, the victory over Belmont is Kentucky’s third quadrant-two win of the season; UK also earned Q2 victories over Louisville on Nov. 16 and Illinois on Nov. 27.
Through games played on Dec. 22, the SEC had 11 teams in the NET’s top 50, including seven in the top 20. Texas and South Carolina have switched spots, with the Longhorns taking the No. 1 ranking for the first time this season, and the Gamecocks dropping to No. 2. Texas and South Carolina were joined in the NET’s top 10 by Oklahoma, which improved to No. 9.
The remaining teams in the NET top 10 are programs previously featured, with some trading of places — No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Connecticut, No. 5 Kansas State, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Southern California, No. 8 TCU and No. 10 Ohio State.
LSU improved to No. 11, while Vanderbilt felt to No. 12. Alabama is now No. 17, Ole Miss sits at No. 20 and Tennessee is No. 21. Mississippi State is No. 26, and Auburn is No. 45.
Florida sits at No. 60, and Missouri is No. 66. Texas A&M remains within the top 100 at No. 91, while Georgia improved to No. 135 and Arkansas dropped to No. 152.
Next game
Western Kentucky at No. 16 Kentucky
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: UK 10-1, Western Kentucky 9-2
Series: Tied 14-14
Last meeting: WKU won 66-57 on Dec. 4, 2008, in Bowling Green
