Kentucky moves up to No. 12 in AP, Coaches Polls
What happens when you break a single-game scoring record under John Calipari at Kentucky? You move up in the polls, of course. The latest AP Poll saw a major shake-up after a wild week of college basketball resulting in movement at nearly every spot inside the top ten.
Kentucky sits just outside that group at No. 12 overall in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
Purdue jumped to No. 1 in the update, earning 60 of 63 first-place votes, followed by Arizona at No. 2, Marquette at No. 3, UConn at No. 4 and Kansas at No. 5 — a four-spot drop for the Jayhawks.
Eight of Kentucky’s upcoming opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25 this week, highlighted by Miami (FL) at No. 8. Tennessee leads the way in the SEC at No. 10 followed by Texas A&M at No. 14, Mississippi State at No. 21 and Alabama at No. 23.
Auburn (46), Arkansas (10), Ole Miss (4) and South Carolina (2) also received votes.
- Miami: No. 8
- Tennessee: No. 10
- Gonzaga: No. 11
- Texas A&M: No. 14
- North Carolina: No. 17
- Mississippi State: No. 21
- Alabama: No. 23
AP College Basketball Poll – Nov. 27
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | TREND | POINTS |
| 1 | Purdue | 6-0 | ⬆️ 1 | 1572 (60) |
| 2 | Arizona | 6-0 | ⬆️ 1 | 1467 (1) |
| 3 | Marquette | 5-1 | ⬆️ 1 | 1418 |
| 4 | UConn | 6-0 | ⬆️ 1 | 1411 (2) |
| 5 | Kansas | 5-1 | ⬇️ 4 | 1312 |
| 6 | Houston | 7-0 | — | 1289 |
| 7 | Duke | 5-1 | ⬆️ 2 | 1194 |
| 8 | Miami (FL) | 5-0 | ⬆️ 2 | 1031 |
| 9 | Baylor | 6-0 | ⬆️ 4 | 1030 |
| 10 | Tennessee | 4-2 | ⬇️ 3 | 967 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 4-1 | — | 964 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 5-1 | ⬆️ 4 | 727 |
| 13 | Florida Atlantic | 5-1 | ⬆️ 6 | 664 |
| 14 | Texas A&M | 6-1 | ⬇️ 2 | 646 |
| 15 | Creighton | 5-1 | ⬇️ 7 | 613 |
| 16 | Texas | 5-1 | ⬇️ 1 | 571 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 5-1 | ⬇️ 3 | 567 |
| 18 | Villanova | 6-1 | — | 534 |
| 19 | BYU | 6-0 | — | 416 |
| 20 | Colorado State | 6-0 | — | 330 |
| 21 | Mississippi State | 6-0 | ⬆️ 4 | 309 |
| 22 | James Madison | 6-0 | — | 303 |
| 23 | Alabama | 5-1 | ⬇️ 6 | 259 |
| 24 | Illinois | 5-1 | — | 134 |
| 25 | Oklahoma | 6-0 | — | 120 |
Others Receiving Votes: Memphis 108, San Diego St. 102, Colorado 70, Ohio St. 67, TCU 66, Michigan St. 57, Auburn 46, UCLA 24, Princeton 14, Arkansas 10, Florida St. 8, Iowa St. 8, Southern Cal 7, Liberty 7, Nevada 6, Clemson 6, Virginia 6, Mississippi 5, Nebraska 4, South Carolina 2, Cincinnati 2, Kansas St 1, Bradley 1.
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USA Today Coaches Poll – Nov. 27
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue | 6-0 | 800 | 32 | 2 | +1 | 1/2 |
| 2 | Arizona | 6-0 | 747 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 2/11 |
| 3 | Marquette | 5-1 | 703 | 0 | 5 | +2 | 3/7 |
| 4 | UConn | 6-0 | 700 | 0 | 4 | – | 4/5 |
| 5 | Houston | 7-0 | 681 | 0 | 6 | +1 | 5/6 |
| 6 | Kansas | 5-1 | 647 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 1/6 |
| 7 | Duke | 5-1 | 594 | 0 | 9 | +2 | 3/9 |
| 8 | Miami (FL) | 5-0 | 542 | 0 | 11 | +3 | 8/13 |
| 9 | Baylor | 6-0 | 537 | 0 | 12 | +3 | 9/17 |
| 10 | Gonzaga | 4-1 | 483 | 0 | 10 | – | 10/12 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 4-2 | 462 | 0 | 8 | -3 | 8/11 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 5-1 | 373 | 0 | 16 | +4 | 12/16 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 6-1 | 326 | 0 | 13 | – | 13/19 |
| 14 | Creighton | 5-1 | 324 | 0 | 7 | -7 | 7/14 |
| 15 | Villanova | 6-1 | 317 | 0 | NR | +14 | 15/NR |
| 16 | North Carolina | 5-1 | 303 | 0 | 14 | -2 | 14/21 |
| 17 | Florida Atlantic | 5-1 | 287 | 0 | 20 | +3 | 9/20 |
| 18 | Texas | 5-1 | 201 | 0 | 17 | -1 | 17/18 |
| 19 | BYU | 6-0 | 187 | 0 | NR | +16 | 19/NR |
| 20 | Alabama | 5-1 | 157 | 0 | 15 | -5 | 15/24 |
| 21 | Colorado State | 6-0 | 132 | 0 | NR | – | 21/NR |
| 22 | Mississippi State | 6-0 | 125 | 0 | 25 | +3 | 22/NR |
| 23 | James Madison | 6-0 | 109 | 0 | NR | +5 | 23/NR |
| 24 | Illinois | 5-1 | 99 | 0 | 22 | -2 | 22/NR |
| 25 | Michigan State | 3-3 | 66 | 0 | 19 | -6 | 4/25 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 18 Virginia; No. 21 Colorado; No. 23 Memphis; No. 24 UCLA
Others Receiving Votes
Memphis 63; Virginia 54; UCLA 46; TCU 45; San Diego State 45; Oklahoma 44; Colorado 43; Ohio State 37; Clemson 27; Auburn 26; Princeton 24; Nevada 11; Iowa State 11; USC 7; Liberty 6; Bradley 4; Cincinnati 2; Arkansas 2; Florida 1
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Where Kentucky stands in other national rankings
The national media believes in Kentucky as a consensus top-15 team, one just outside the top 10. Gary Parrish has the Cats listed at No. 12 overall in his latest “Top 25-and-One” rankings at CBS Sports. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello also moved Kentucky up to No. 11 overall in his new Power Rankings.
Kentucky’s offense has clearly improved this season, both schematically and from a talent perspective, and facing Marshall and its fast-paced style on Friday was the perfect storm for a record-breaking performance. Via ESPN Stats & Information, the Wildcats’ 118 points were the most scored under John Calipari and the most scored by Kentucky against a Division I opponent since December 1995.
Jeff Borzello, ESPN
CJ Moore of The Athletic was the first to go all in with the Wildcats in his Power Rankings last week, the first major outlet to put them inside the top 10. John Calipari’s group is holding steady at No. 10 this week thanks to its historic offensive start consisting of efficient shooting and an absurd assist-to-turnover ratio.
No team since 2010 has had at least 120 assists and less than 49 turnovers. Until Kentucky just did it.
It’s still pinch-me stuff with John Calipari and his team playing at a warp speed and shooting a ton of 3s. The latest who needed pinching was Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni, lover of pace-and-space.
CJ Moore, The Athletic
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