Kentucky falls in AP, Coaches Polls following loss to Auburn

Kentucky’s slow fall in the polls continues. After the win at Oklahoma and lopsided loss to Auburn, the Cats fell two spots to No. 19 in the new AP Poll. They’re barely hanging on in the Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 24, down one spot last week.

Auburn remains the No. 1 team in both polls, which, as we saw on Saturday, is for very good reason. The Tigers received all 61 first-place votes in the AP Poll and 30 of the 31 first-place votes in the Coaches Poll (the other went to Duke). Duke is No. 2 in the AP Poll. Houston is No. 3 and Tennessee is No. 4. After losing at Georgia, Florida slipped from No. 3 to No. 5. Rick Pitino’s St. John’s is up one spot to No. 6, followed by Alabama at No. 7. Missouri, Saturday’s opponent in Columbia, fell one spot to No. 15. Texas A&M fell ten spots to No. 22. The Aggies have lost four straight.

In total, there are eight teams from the SEC in the AP Top 25, with Mississippi State hanging on at No. 25. After back-to-back wins over top-15 teams, Vanderbilt is just outside, receiving the second most votes behind VCU. Ole Miss is also among the group of teams receiving votes, along with Gonzaga. Louisville is now ranked higher than the Cats, climbing five spots to No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll.

AP College Basketball Poll – March 3

RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	TREND
1	Auburn (61)	27-2	1525	–
2	Duke	26-3	1458	–
3	Houston	25-4	1396	+1
4	Tennessee	24-5	1326	+1
5	Florida	25-4	1247	-2
6	St. John’s	26-4	1179	+1
7	Alabama	23-6	1176	-1
8	Michigan State	24-5	1165	–
9	Texas Tech	22-7	947	+1
10	Iowa State	22-7	918	-1
11	Clemson	24-5	905	+2
12	Wisconsin	22-7	815	-1
13	Maryland	22-7	628	+3
14	Louisville	23-6	606	+5
15	Missouri	21-8	603	-1
16	Memphis	24-5	560	+2
17	Michigan	22-7	494	-2
18	Purdue	20-9	454	+2
19	Kentucky	19-10	417	-2
20	Marquette	22-7	409	+1
21	Saint Mary’s	27-4	399	+2
22	Texas A&M	20-9	364	-10
23	BYU	21-8	287	+2
24	Arizona	19-10	162	-2
25	Mississippi State	20-9	87	-1

Others Receiving Votes: VCU 85, Vanderbilt 78, Oregon 37, Drake 18, UC San Diego 17, Illinois 16, Mississippi 13, UCLA 8, Gonzaga 8, Kansas 5, High Point 4, UConn 4, New Mexico 2, Creighton 2, Akron 1

USA Today Coaches Poll – March 3

Rank	Team	Record	PTS	Chg
1	Auburn	27-2	774 (30)	–
2	Duke	26-3	737 (1)	–
3	Houston	25-4	707	+1
4	Tennessee	24-5	671	+1
5	Florida	25-4	653	-2
6	St. John’s	26-4	612	+1
7	Michigan State	24-5	587	+1
8	Alabama	23-6	566	-2
9	Texas Tech	22-7	504	+1
10	Iowa State	22-7	484	-1
11	Clemson	24-5	442	+3
12	Wisconsin	22-7	391	–
13	Louisville	23-6	365	+4
14	Maryland	22-7	341	+1
15	Michigan	22-7	288	-2
16	Memphis	24-5	272	+2
17	Saint Mary’s	27-4	262	+3
18	Purdue	20-9	257	+1
19	Missouri	21-8	236	-3
20	Marquette	22-7	204	+2
21	Texas A&M	20-9	169	-10
22	BYU	21-8	127	+4
23	Arizona	19-10	91	-2
24	Kentucky	19-10	88	-1
25	VCU	24-5	54	+3

Schools Dropped Out: No. 24 Mississippi State; No. 25 Creighton;

Others Receiving Votes: Mississippi State 38; New Mexico 24; Creighton 24; UC San Diego 21; Vanderbilt 17; Gonzaga 17; Oregon 14; UConn 10; Drake 10; UCLA 9; Illinois 6; Ole Miss 2; Boise State 1;

Kentucky in other National Rankings

Everyone but Jon Rothstein dropped Kentucky in their rankings this week, with Andy Katz putting them out of the Top 25 in his Power 37.

• Jon Rothstein: No. 17 (Last Week: No. 17)
• CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone: No. 18 (Last Week: No. 17)
• The Athletic: No. 18 (Last Week: No. 17)
• John Fanta: No. 22 (Last Week: No. 21)
• CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: No. 22 (Last Week: No. 16)
• Jamie Shaw: No. 23 (Last Week: No. 19)
• Andy Katz: No. 27 (Last Week: No. 23)

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