Kentucky makes significant jump in ESPN, CBS Sports, KenPom Rankings

Kentucky’s stock is rising after Tuesday’s big win vs. Duke. We’ll have to wait until Monday to find out how high the Cats climb in the AP and Coaches Polls, but some national writers updated their rankings to reflect Tuesday night’s developments and Kentucky made a significant jump.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello updated his rankings for the first time since the preseason this morning. Kentucky moved from No. 23 to No. 8 after a strong second half vs. the Blue Devils.

“At halftime during the Champions Classic, it was fair to question whether Kentucky could consistently get points in a half-court setting against a strong opponent,” Borzello wrote. “Duke was keeping the Wildcats out of transition, and after an early barrage of 3s, the team’s attack had dried up. Then Mark Pope made some smart tweaks offensively, using Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison as playmakers in the middle of the floor, and Andrew Carr created matchup problems. The Wildcats answered a lot of questions with their second-half showing.”

Borzello ranks Kansas No. 1, Auburn No. 2, Gonzaga No. 2, Alabama No. 4, and UConn No. 5. The Cats play the Tigers, Bulldogs, and Crimson Tide, with the clash with Gonzaga in Seattle just 23 days away.

CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish didn’t even have Kentucky ranked in his Top 25 and One. Yesterday, he changed that in a big way, slotting the Cats at No. 13, one spot ahead of Duke, which was previously No. 8. He has North Carolina (No. 4) in his top five instead of Gonzaga (No. 7).

Jeff Goodman, Andy Katz, and Jon Rothstein have yet to update their weekly rankings, but all told Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ that Kentucky will be moving up quite a bit. Goodman believes the Cats are a top-ten squad, while Katz made the case for Kentucky to be in the top five. Rothstein will also have Kentucky in his top ten.

“It’s really encouraging for Kentucky fans how cohesive the team looked considering that nobody on the team now was on the team last year,” Rothstein told Polacheck. “Nobody played for Kentucky prior to a couple of weeks ago. You saw the intricacies of Mark Pope’s style on offense and how fluid it was. Kentucky shot the ball exceptionally well.”

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Kentucky climbs into the KenPom Top 20

Rankings are subjective; what about metrics? Kentucky went into the Duke game No. 31 in the KenPom ratings. After the 77-72 victory, they’re up to No. 20. That’s a 23-spot jump from where they were to start the season. Duke is No. 5 in KenPom behind Auburn, Houston, Gonzaga, and UConn.

Dipping a little more into the numbers, Kentucky’s offensive has an adjusted efficiency of 116.2, which ranks No. 16 nationally. Defensively, the Cats are No. 35 in adjusted efficiency. Three games is a very small sample size, but one number that won’t change: age. Kentucky is No. 4 in the country in Division I experience, with an average of 3.23 years per player. As Tuesday night showed, that’s working out well for the Cats thus far.

If you’re curious, KenPom has Kentucky finishing the regular season with a 21-10 record, 10-8 in the SEC. That includes losses to Clemson (78-76, 42% chance of victory), Gonzaga (87-80, 27%), and Ohio State (78-77, 47%) in the non-conference slate. Again, it’s early, so it’s best not to get too wrapped up in projections, but he has Kentucky beating Arkansas 79-73 in Rupp on February 1. Wouldn’t that be nice?