Kentucky drops to No. 16 and No. 17 in AP, Coaches Polls
How do you judge a top-10 victory, followed immediately by a home loss to a Colonial Athletic Association Conference foe as a double-digit favorite? AP and Coaches Poll voters were forced into that dilemma with the Kentucky Wildcats.
The consensus? A minor fall, but a fall nonetheless.
Kentucky dropped from No. 12 to No. 16 in the AP Poll — one spot behind the Miami Hurricanes (No. 15), whom the Wildcats steamrolled inside Rupp Arena last week. As for the Coaches Poll, that was a five-spot drop from No. 12 to No. 17.
Check out the updated rankings:
AP College Basketball Poll – Dec. 4
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | TREND | POINTS |
| 1 | Arizona | 7-0 | ⬆️ 1 | 1571 (59) |
| 2 | Kansas | 7-1 | ⬆️ 3 | 1460 (1) |
| 3 | Houston | 8-0 | ⬆️ 3 | 1432 (3) |
| 4 | Purdue | 7-1 | ⬇️ 3 | 1407 |
| 5 | UConn | 7-1 | ⬇️ 1 | 1340 |
| 6 | Baylor | 8-0 | ⬆️ 3 | 1234 |
| 7 | Gonzaga | 6-1 | ⬆️ 4 | 1146 |
| 8 | Marquette | 6-2 | ⬇️ 5 | 1134 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 7-1 | ⬆️ 8 | 1004 |
| 10 | Creighton | 7-1 | ⬆️ 5 | 921 |
| 11 | Florida Atlantic | 7-1 | ⬆️ 2 | 901 |
| 12 | Texas | 6-1 | ⬆️ 4 | 763 |
| 13 | Colorado State | 8-0 | ⬆️ 7 | 755 |
| 14 | BYU | 7-0 | ⬆️ 5 | 732 |
| 15 | Miami (FL) | 6-1 | ⬇️ 7 | 638 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 6-2 | ⬇️ 4 | 544 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 4-3 | ⬇️ 7 | 509 |
| 18 | James Madison | 8-0 | ⬆️ 4 | 381 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 7-0 | ⬆️ 6 | 355 |
| 20 | Illinois | 6-1 | ⬆️ 4 | 322 |
| 21 | Texas A&M | 6-2 | ⬇️ 7 | 306 |
| 22 | Duke | 5-3 | ⬇️ 15 | 296 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 6-2 | — | 245 |
| 24 | Clemson | 7-0 | — | 227 |
| 25 | San Diego State | 7-1 | — | 168 |
Others Receiving Votes
Virginia 148, Ohio St. 122, TCU 87, Northwestern 77, Alabama 50, Michigan St. 46, Princeton 35, UCLA 23, Cincinnati 21, Mississippi 15, Arkansas 14, Providence 13, South Carolina 9, Villanova 8, Colorado 5, Memphis 5, Nevada 4, Georgia Tech 2.
USA Today Coaches Poll – Dec. 4
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona | 7-0 | 792 | 26 | 2 | +1 | 1/11 |
| 2 | Houston | 8-0 | 742 | 5 | 5 | +3 | 2/6 |
| 3 | Kansas | 7-1 | 738 | 1 | 6 | +3 | 1/6 |
| 4 | Purdue | 7-1 | 706 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 1/4 |
| 5 | UConn | 7-1 | 668 | 0 | 4 | -1 | 4/5 |
| 6 | Baylor | 8-0 | 630 | 0 | 9 | +3 | 6/17 |
| 7 | Marquette | 6-2 | 583 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 3/7 |
| 8 | Gonzaga | 6-1 | 579 | 0 | 10 | +2 | 8/12 |
| 9 | Florida Atlantic | 7-1 | 477 | 0 | 17 | +8 | 9/20 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 7-1 | 476 | 0 | 16 | +6 | 10/21 |
| 11 | Creighton | 7-1 | 475 | 0 | 14 | +3 | 7/14 |
| 12 | Colorado State | 8-0 | 376 | 0 | 21 | +9 | 12/21 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 4-3 | 352 | 0 | 11 | -2 | 8/13 |
| 13 | BYU | 7-0 | 352 | 0 | 19 | +6 | 13/NR |
| 15 | Miami (FL) | 6-1 | 263 | 0 | 8 | -7 | 8/15 |
| 16 | Texas | 6-1 | 252 | 0 | 18 | +2 | 16/18 |
| 17 | Kentucky | 6-2 | 229 | 0 | 12 | -5 | 12/17 |
| 18 | Illinois | 6-1 | 207 | 0 | 24 | +6 | 18/NR |
| 19 | Texas A&M | 6-2 | 194 | 0 | 13 | -6 | 13/19 |
| 20 | Clemson | 7-0 | 180 | 0 | NR | +14 | 20/NR |
| 21 | Duke | 5-3 | 175 | 0 | 7 | -14 | 3/21 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 7-0 | 136 | 0 | NR | +9 | 22/NR |
| 23 | Virginia | 7-1 | 134 | 0 | NR | +4 | 18/NR |
| 24 | James Madison | 8-0 | 132 | 0 | 23 | -1 | 23/NR |
| 25 | Ohio State | 7-1 | 101 | 0 | NR | +8 | 25/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 15 Villanova; No. 20 Alabama; No. 22 Mississippi State; No. 25 Michigan State;
Others Receiving Votes
Wisconsin 66; Alabama 55; TCU 53; Michigan State 42; Princeton 38; San Diego State 34; Northwestern 24; Ole Miss 23; Iowa State 23; Auburn 21; UCLA 17; Nevada 13; Memphis 9; Florida State 8; Cincinnati 8; Villanova 5; Utah 5; USC 5; Mississippi State 2
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Where Kentucky stands in other national rankings
The national media wasn’t too hard on the Cats after the loss. Gary Parrish has the Cats listed at No. 15 overall in his latest “Top 25-and-One” rankings at CBS Sports. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello only dropped Kentucky two spots in his new Power Rankings.
How does a team go from scoring 95 points against a top-10 team on a Tuesday to scoring 73 points and losing to a Coastal Athletic Association team on a Saturday? For Kentucky, it’s due to shooting and turnovers. Against Miami, the Wildcats made nine 3s, turned it over just eight times and had 26 assists on 37 made shots. Against UNC Wilmington, they shot 29.4% from behind the arc and turned it over 13 times, as Rob Dillingham struggled to score, and D.J. Wagner didn’t play.
Jeff Borzello, ESPN
CJ Moore of The Athletic was the highest on the Wildcats last week at No. 10 overall, but dropped them four spots this week to No. 14 following the ugly loss. He cooled on the team’s otherworldly offense up to that point, but continued to praise Reed Sheppard, who leads the nation in true shooting percentage.
Reed Sheppard was everyone’s favorite topic this week after he had 21 points and four assists in the blowout win over Miami and everyone realized his efficiency numbers were insane. It even started some one-and-done talk for UK’s sixth man. Sheppard started on Saturday against UNC Wilmington with DJ Wagner out, and the Wildcats finally cooled off, but not Sheppard. He scored 25 points on 17 shots, which actually brought his efficiency numbers down. He’s shooting 61.1 percent from 3, 63 percent inside the arc and 100 percent at the free-throw line. His 81.3 true shooting percentage is the best in college hoops.
CJ Moore, The Athletic
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