Kentucky moves up to No. 6 in the AP Poll

Kentucky is finally getting the respect it deserves in the polls — even if it took some top-10 losses to force the voters’ hands.

No. 4 Arizona got destroyed by unranked Stanford on New Year’s Eve. The day before, No. 7 Florida Atlantic lost to Florida Gulf Coast. Those three-loss teams earned slides, paving the way for Kentucky to jump up to No. 6 overall in the Week 9 AP Poll.

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Purdue held firm at No. 1 with a blowout win over Eastern Kentucky, as did Kansas at No. 2 with a win over Wichita State. No. 3 Houston stayed undefeated with a win over Penn, while UConn hasn’t played since Dec. 23 — they moved up to No. 4 with Arizona dropping. Then comes Tennessee, who also hasn’t taken the floor since Dec. 21 (and has taken three losses on the year), at No. 5, followed by Kentucky at No. 6.

Take a look at the complete poll:

AP Poll – January 1

RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	TREND
1	Purdue (49)	12-1	1561	–
2	Kansas (5)	11-1	1497	–
3	Houston (9)	13-0	1477	–
4	UConn	11-2	1302	⬆️ 1
5	Tennessee	9-3	1234	⬆️ 1
6	Kentucky	10-2	1196	⬆️ 2
7	Marquette	11-3	1137	⬆️ 3
8	North Carolina	9-3	1088	⬆️ 1
9	Illinois	10-2	980	⬆️ 2
10	Arizona	10-3	975	⬇️ 6
11	Oklahoma	12-1	898	⬆️ 1
12	BYU	12-1	723	⬆️ 2
13	Colorado State	12-1	694	⬆️ 2
14	Duke	9-3	662	⬆️ 2
15	Memphis	11-2	631	⬆️ 4
16	Clemson	11-1	630	⬆️ 2
17	Florida Atlantic	10-3	603	⬇️ 10
18	Baylor	10-2	589	⬇️ 1
19	James Madison	13-0	469	⬆️ 1
20	Texas	10-2	374	⬆️ 1
21	Wisconsin	9-3	355	⬆️ 2
22	Ole Miss	13-0	329	⬆️ 2
23	Providence	11-2	198	⬆️ 2
24	Gonzaga	9-4	173	⬇️ 11
25	Auburn	10-2	168	–

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

San Diego St. 113, Creighton 106, Colorado 86, Utah 82, Miami 41, Iowa St. 22, Michigan St. 15, Nevada 13, Texas A&M 13, Ohio St. 8, New Mexico 6, Dayton 5, Grand Canyon 5, South Carolina 4, Mississippi St. 4, Northwestern 3, Villanova 3, Alabama 3.