Kentucky rises to No. 4 in AP Poll after win over Louisville

Kentucky’s wins over Colgate and Louisville resulted in a slight bump in this week’s AP Poll. The Cats are now No. 4, up one spot from last week.

Tennessee remains the No. 1 team in the country, followed by Auburn, Iowa State, Kentucky, and Duke. The Cats edged out the Blue Devils for the No. 4 spot by just one point. Alabama and Florida are up to No. 6 and No. 7. Eight SEC teams are in the Top 25, with Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Missouri just outside. In fact, only three of the 16 SEC teams did not receive votes in this week’s poll: Vanderbilt, LSU, and South Carolina.

Kentucky is now 10-1, the best start since the 2016-17 season. Because it’s finals week, the Cats won’t be back in action until Saturday when they play Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes are coming off an embarrassing 91-53 loss to Auburn, which dropped their record to 6-4.

AP College Basketball Poll – December 16

RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	TREND
1	Tennessee (50)	10-0	1537	–
2	Auburn (12)	9-1	1483	–
3	Iowa State	9-1	1416	–
4	Kentucky	10-1	1325	+1
5	Duke	8-2	1324	-1
6	Alabama	8-2	1210	+1
7	Florida	10-0	1169	+2
8	Kansas	8-2	1056	+2
9	Marquette	9-2	926	-3
10	Oregon	10-1	903	+2
11	UConn	8-3	808	+7
12	Texas A&M	9-2	758	+5
13	Gonzaga	7-3	737	-5
14	Oklahoma	10-0	732	-1
15	Houston	6-3	582	–
16	Purdue	8-3	498	-5
17	Ole Miss	9-1	459	+2
18	UCLA	9-1	436	+6
19	Cincinnati	8-1	325	+3
20	Michigan State	8-2	322	+1
21	Memphis	8-2	287	+5
22	Dayton	9-2	281	+4
23	San Diego State	7-2	250	–
24	Michigan	8-2	209	-10
25	Clemson	9-2	175	-9

Others Receiving Votes: Mississippi St. 158, Arkansas 151, Missouri 120, Baylor 115, Illinois 70, Drake 52, St. John’s 50, Utah St. 48, Pittsburgh 28, Maryland 24, West Virginia 19, Wisconsin 18, Georgia 18, Oklahoma St. 16, Arizona St 14, Creighton 12, North Carolina 9, Penn St. 8, Indiana 7, Texas 3, St. Bonaventure 2.

Kentucky in other National Rankings

Kentucky is a consensus top-five team in the eyes of college basketball writers. Only The Athletic’s CJ Moore has the Cats outside his top five, at No. 6.

• ESPN: No. 4
• CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: No. 4
• Jon Rothstein: No. 4
• Andy Katz: No. 4
• John Fanta: No. 4
• Jeff Goodman: No. 4
• The Athletic: No. 6

Take advantage of our KSR+ Introductory Offer to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and the latest recruiting and roster intel. $1 for seven days and 50% off an entire year.