Kentucky women’s basketball knocking on top-10 door. Here’s who’s keeping the Cats out
After losing its first conference game — a disappointing defeat at Texas A&M — in Week 12, Kentucky women’s basketball bounced back with a pair of ranked victories to improve to 19-2 (8-1 SEC) on the season.
The Wildcats have been hovering for weeks just outside the nation’s top 10, so was a sweep of No. 22 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma enough to push UK through that barrier for the first time in the Kenny Brooks coaching era?
Not quite.
After dropping from No. 11 to No. 12 in last week’s Associated Press women’s college basketball Top 25 poll, the Wildcats returned to their season-high No. 11 spot on Monday.
Kentucky defeated Alabama 65-56 in Lexington to close out January with a bang, then beat Oklahoma 95-86 in Norman on Sunday as All-America point guard Georgia Amoore scored a career-high and program-record-tying 43 points.
It’s not surprising the Wildcats haven’t been able to break into the top 10 yet, as the teams consistently ranked there keep on winning. Last week’s only exception was Southern California, which dropped three places from No. 4 to No. 7 after suffering its first loss of Big Ten play. The Trojans were upset 76-69 at unranked Iowa on Sunday in front of Hawkeyes legend Caitlin Clark, who was in attendance for her jersey retirement ceremony.
In falling three places, the Trojans opened the door for Texas, Connecticut and LSU to each move up one place in the rankings. This week’s AP top 10 is as follows — No. 1 UCLA (21-0, 9-0 Big Ten), No. 2 South Carolina (21-1, 9-0 SEC), No. 3 Notre Dame (19-2, 10-0 ACC), No. 4 Texas (22-2, 8-1 SEC), No. 5 Connecticut (21-2, 12-0 Big East), No. 6 LSU (23-1, 8-1 SEC), No. 7 Southern California (19-2, 9-1 Big Ten), No. 8 Ohio State (20-1, 9-1 Big Ten), No. 9 TCU (21-2, 9-1 Big 12) and No. 10 Duke (17-4, 8-1 ACC).
Joining Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas and LSU in this week’s SEC representation within the Top 25 are No. 15 Oklahoma (16-6, 4-5), which dropped two spots after falling to both LSU and Kentucky, No. 19 Tennessee (16-5, 4-5), which fell one spot after defeating Missouri on Sunday, No. 23 Alabama, which dropped one spot after its loss to Kentucky and victory over Georgia, and No. 24 Vanderbilt, which fell one spot after beating Florida but losing to Ole Miss on Sunday.
Kentucky remains in a three-way tie for second place in the SEC alongside LSU and Texas, behind only South Carolina. Ole Miss (15-6, 6-3), the Wildcats’ next opponent, sits in fourth place in the SEC standings and received Top 25 votes.
NET rankings update
The Wildcats also improved in the NCAA NET rankings between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, moving from No. 22 to No. 17.
The NET rankings, an official tool used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to determine bids and seeding come March, are updated daily.
Alabama stood at No. 19 on Jan. 27; the Crimson Tide is now No. 20 in the NET. Oklahoma, which was No. 17 a week ago, is now No. 18. Ole Miss remains at No. 11, meaning the SEC has nine ranked teams within the NET top 20 — No. 1 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 9 LSU, No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 19 Vanderbilt and No. 20 Alabama.
The NET top 10 did not change, apart from Notre Dame and Southern California swapping spots. The top 10 is as follows — No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 Connecticut, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 Southern California, No. 7 Kansas State (19-2, 7-1 Big 12), No. 8 Duke, No. 9 LSU and No. 10 TCU.
No. 33 Mississippi State (16-7, 3-6) is the only other SEC program ranked within the NET’s top 50. No. 58 Auburn (11-11, 2-7), No. 61 Florida (11-11, 2-6), No. 69 Missouri (12-12, 1-8), No. 77 Texas A&M (10-11, 3-6), No. 123 Georgia (9-14, 1-8) and No. 127 Arkansas (9-14, 2-6) round out the SEC’s placements throughout the NET.
Next game
No. 12 Kentucky at Ole Miss
When: 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 10
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 19-2 (8-1 SEC), Ole Miss 15-6 (6-3)
Series: Ole Miss leads 28-19
Last meeting: Ole Miss won 75-45 on Feb. 29, 2024 at Rupp Arena in Lexington
