Kentucky jumps up to No. 6 in latest Coaches Poll

The media members were a bit higher on Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats than the coaches this go-round. After jumping into the top five of the latest AP Poll all the way up to No. 4 overall — the program’s best mark since November 14, 2022 — they only moved up two spots to No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

That’s once again good for third in the SEC behind only Auburn (No. 2) and Tennessee (No. 3). Elsewhere, Kansas (No. 1), Marquette (No. 4), Iowa State (No. 5), Purdue (No. 7), Gonzaga (No. 8), Duke (No. 9) and Oregon (No. 10) round out the top 10. Alabama (No. 12), Florida (No. 13), Ole Miss (No. 20), Oklahoma (No. 21) and Texas A&M (No. 24) make up the other SEC programs in the top 25 with Texas, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Georgia also receiving votes.

Kentucky’s next opponent, Clemson, received votes this week, as well — the Tigers are No. 47 overall with five votes.

Take a look at the complete top 25:

Rank	Team	Record	PTS	1st	Prev	Chg	Hi/Lo
1	Kansas	7-0	760	19	1	–	1/1
2	Auburn	7-0	755	12	3	+1	2/11
3	Tennessee	7-0	694	0	6	+3	3/12
4	Marquette	8-0	646	0	11	+7	4/17
5	Iowa State	5-1	629	0	5	–	5/7
6	Kentucky	7-0	628	0	8	+2	6/23
7	Purdue	7-1	535	0	12	+5	6/13
8	Gonzaga	7-1	517	0	4	-4	4/8
9	Duke	5-2	472	0	10	+1	5/10
10	Oregon	8-0	457	0	NR	+27	10/NR
11	Wisconsin	8-0	450	0	17	+6	11/NR
12	Alabama	6-2	441	0	9	-3	2/12
13	Florida	8-0	427	0	16	+3	13/21
14	Cincinnati	6-0	376	0	14	–	14/20
15	Memphis	6-1	265	0	NR	+20	15/NR
16	Baylor	5-2	262	0	18	+2	8/18
17	Illinois	6-1	234	0	NR	+12	17/NR
18	Houston	4-3	221	0	7	-11	4/18
19	Pittsburgh	7-1	213	0	25	+6	19/NR
20	Ole Miss	6-1	139	0	24	+4	20/NR
21	Oklahoma	7-0	111	0	NR	–	21/NR
22	North Carolina	4-3	96	0	13	-9	10/22
23	Michigan	6-1	90	0	NR	–	23/NR
24	Texas A&M	6-2	86	0	20	-4	15/24
25	Michigan State	6-2	73	0	NR	+15	25/NR

Schools Dropped Out

No. 2 UConn; No. 15 Indiana; No. 19 Creighton; No. 21 Arkansas; No. 22 Xavier; No. 23 Arizona;

Others Receiving Votes

UConn 63; San Diego State 56; Texas 54; Mississippi State 39; Arizona State 39; Drake 34; Texas Tech 32; Arkansas 28; UCLA 17; Xavier 16; BYU 16; Ohio State 15; Utah State 13; Saint Mary’s 12; Dayton 10; St. John’s 8; Nebraska 8; Indiana 8; Creighton 8; West Virginia 5; Maryland 5; Clemson 5; Georgia 3; Arizona 2; UC Irvine 1; Nevada 1;

AP College Basketball Poll – December 2

1. Kansas (7-0) – 1499 (35)
2. Auburn (7-0) – 1490 (26)
3. Tennessee (7-0) – 1351
4. Kentucky (7-0) – 1267
5. Marquette (8-0) – 1246
6. Iowa State (5-1) – 1225
7. Gonzaga (7-1) – 1181
8. Purdue (7-1) – 1058
9. Duke (5-2) – 941
10. Alabama (6-2) – 939
11. Wisconsin (8-0) – 903
12. Oregon (8-0) – 806
13. Florida (8-0) – 782
14. Cincinnati (6-0) – 774
15. Baylor (5-2) – 567
16. Memphis (6-1) – 500
17. Houston (4-3) – 402
18. Pittsburgh (7-1) – 374
19. Illinois (6-1) – 351
20. North Carolina (4-3) – 292
21. Oklahoma (7-0) – 266
22. Texas A&M (6-2) – 207
23. Ole Miss (6-1) – 165
24. San Diego State (4-2) – 143
25. UConn (5-3) – 123

Others Receiving Votes: Michigan St. 108, Arkansas 104, Texas 97, Michigan 95, Arizona St 89, Indiana 72, Drake 58, Xavier 33, Utah St. 28, Louisville 27, West Virginia 26, Clemson 25, BYU 24, Dayton 24, Texas Tech 22, Nebraska 22, Mississippi St. 20, Ohio St. 19, Maryland 13, UCLA 13, Creighton 12, Saint Mary’s 11, Georgia 10, St. John’s 7, Loyola Chicago 4, Florida St. 3, DePaul 3, UC Irvine 2, Columbia 2.

Kentucky in other National Rankings

• CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone: No. 4
• The Athletic: No. 5
• Andy Katz: No. 5
• Jon Rothstein: No. 5
• CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: No. 6
• John Fanta: No. 6
• On3’s Jamie Shaw: No. 6
• NET: No. 8